Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy McEntee for his favourable comments. I am sure those in the Road Safety Authority and the Department who have been dealing with this matter for some years will be heartened by the Deputy's comments. While a single fatality is one too many, the reduction of 32 in this year's number of fatalities is great. We would like to think we could achieve a similar reduction every year, but we know that these figures tend to go up and down. The important thing is to try to secure a consistent trend. As I have not been in the Department a wet day, I cannot claim any of the credit for the recent improvement in this area.

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