Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I will share time with Deputy Michael Kitt.

I welcome the Road Traffic Bill as making an important contribution to road safety and I commend the Minister for introducing it. If we go back to the beginning of the last decade, when I came into electoral politics in 2002, the unacceptably high number of road casualties was a very definite issue, along with the high cost not only of road insurance but of insurance generally. These were matters the Government was expected to tackle and deal with. Much progress has been made and we are moving in the right direction, although nobody would consider the present situation as satisfactory. In his speech, the Minister pointed out that we have moved up from 16th in EU countries in 2005 to sixth and that instead of having routinely more than 400 people dying a year, it was reduced last year to 239. That is satisfactory in terms of moving in the right direction.

Anyone who has met or known people who lost sons, daughters or close friends in traffic accidents knows how traumatic it is. In some ways it ruins, or at least adversely affects, the rest of their lives. This is also the case if people are badly and permanently injured. It deserves much attention. The Minister made the point correctly that many factors are involved. Road investment and improvements have been made over the past ten years, in particular the modern barriers separating carriageways that make it virtually impossible to cross from one side of the motorway to another motorway, which in the past was a cause of accidents. In general, the safety record is high. While I appreciate that we will not have the same amount of money to invest once the motorway network is complete as we had before, we should, albeit at a lower level, continue the programme of road investment and improvement.

As we all know, a great deal remains to be done not only in regard to the long distance strategic network, such as along the western corridor or the Limerick-Waterford road, but also on the roads between important neighbouring towns in every county. Stretches along many of these roads are in very bad condition. The Thurles end of the Tipperary-Thurles road is one such example, although I note that the Thurles bypass has been mentioned in dispatches.

Driver and vehicle testing also make an important contribution. Any number of old bangers could be seen on our roads 20 years ago but there are much fewer these days. Road maintenance is also important. Despite the considerable damage done to both minor roads and parts of the national network by the recent ice and frost, county councils have begun to prioritise repairs and I am glad to say that a great deal has already been put right.

I welcome the establishment in the past decade of the Garda traffic corps. This innovative unit has high visibility and if one travels at night along any decently frequented road, one will run a considerable risk of encountering a checkpoint.

The centrepiece of the Bill is the reduction of alcohol limits from 80 mg to 50 mg for the general driver and a lower level for professional and learner drivers. This is appropriate because the killing capacity of a bus, lorry or other large vehicle is even greater than that of a car. Considerable debate was devoted to this subject within my party and elsewhere but I believe the correct balance has been achieved. I had a conversation recently with the former Minister for the Environment, Michael Smith, who faced the same arguments when he reduced the limit from 100 mg to 80 mg in the early 1990s.

The difficulties faced by licensed premises are probably at least as much the result of the recession as the enforcement of drink driving legislation. If one goes to a pub for social purposes, it is quite possible to limit one's alcohol consumption by drinking tea, coffee or a mineral. It is much better to impose on oneself the rule of drinking no alcohol if one is driving. I would apply the same rule to public speaking. One is unwise to drink alcohol because one needs one's wits about one, particularly if answering questions. I always leave the alcohol consumption until afterwards.

Public support is needed when a new regime is introduced. That was the case with the smoking ban and the plastic bag tax, which was another of the Minister's innovations. If public support exists, enforcement is less difficult because people are prepared to adjust to the system.

I welcome the further development of drug testing. This relatively new dimension deserves to be refined and put into operation. Since 1949, a free travel area has been in place between the UK and Ireland and it is entirely logical that disqualifications should be mutually recognised. Judicial loopholes are a cause of frustration but the Bill includes measures to close them.

I receive a considerable number of representations concerning noisy exhausts, which I suspect are mostly connected with boy racers. I am sure legislation is already in place to prohibit excessive noise but the issue needs to be better enforced.

Finally, while we all welcome the greater use of bicycles, is it not the case that cyclists are also bound by the rules of the road? This should be drawn to their attention because they seem to ignore traffic lights and one-way streets.

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