Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Between 2002 and 2006, 427 cycling collisions were reported to the Garda. Sadly, 11 were fatalities. Of those, eight cyclists were killed by left-turning lorries. We must address this serious issue. Of the other three, one involved a vehicle hitting a cyclist while changing lanes, another involved a vehicle rear-ending a cyclist while the third was caused by a stolen car driving into a cyclist head on. We must address these issues and the Minister must ensure that cyclists are secure. There should be a solution to the problem of left-turning lorries killing cyclists.

Will the Minister consider cycling routes along canals, bus lanes, DART lines and old national primary routes. While we must radically change the way in which we think, we must protect the cyclist above all else. We are not doing so effectively.

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