Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

This House has often discussed the challenge of lowering drink driving limits and the debate tends to repeat itself. If half the time spent discussing how bachelors get to the local pub was devoted to discussing how elderly women get to bingo, the country would be far better off. We tend to be obsessive about the difficulties faced by people in getting to the local pub to have a drink. There are other things to enjoy in a local pub other than downing alcohol which should be acknowledged in this debate.

It is important to ensure that the Garda Síochána has adequate staffing resources to deal with the changes this legislation will produce. There is a very real danger that in lowering the blood alcohol levels we might end up with people being found guilty of having a lower level of blood alcohol while others with higher levels of blood alcohol are not being tested. This could happen if the resources of the Garda Síochána are not augmented. This is an important matter for the Garda Commissioner's consideration with regard to the enforcement of this legislation and I have no doubt he will do so.

This Bill is a good step forward. We need to consider what our European neighbours are doing in this regard to reduce the number of road traffic accidents. The car lobby tends to concentrate on how fatality rates have decreased significantly in recent years and this is to be welcomed. However, I would point out the significant number of people who have been severely injured and who must undergo long periods of recuperation and are often maimed for life. Improved medical techniques mean they will survive the initial accident.

Due to the increased number of cars on the roads, many people are afraid to venture out at night or even during the day, in particular, those who are more vulnerable such as the elderly and children. In some cases they can be effectively barred from going out onto the road. Most of us remember growing up and playing on the road beside our house. Today, it would be unthinkable to send a child out onto many of the roads and streets where in the past children could have played and called around to their pals. People have become prisoners in their own homes and prisoners in their cars. Children have to be driven to play dates rather than walking down the road or across the road to meet their pals. Children are being driven to school rather than walking or cycling. We must realise that many people's traditional urban or rural environment has been taken away from them as it is becoming increasingly difficult for a young parent to walk a buggy down a country road without being in fear of his or her life that an SUV will come around the corner and he or she and the buggy will have to leap into the ditch. These are symptoms of the dangerous over-reliance on higher speeds and on using cars for so much of our lives. There are two sides to the story.

The issue of speed limits has been a topic in the news of late, both in my own area of Dún Laoghaire and in Dublin city centre. Most local authorities have undertaken a review of speed limits over the past three or four months. In some cases, speed limits have risen and, in others, they have been lowered. There has been a focus on the introduction of the lower speed limit of 30 km/h and some organisations such as the Automobile Association have urged us to get rid of some of the 30 km/h limits that have been introduced.

We must ask what sort of city we want. This is the question I ask myself each day as I head out with my children to school. Sometimes we cycle and some days I drive. I would like to think that in a few years, I can let them cycle to school by themselves, or that we can head into town for a match in Croke Park on our bikes. The new 30 km/h speed limit has already made this easier and safer. One of the biggest fears parents have is the fear that their children will be run over. I know that the slowing down of traffic in the centre of our towns and cities will improve safety for children and their parents.

I want to be able to let go of my children's hands and not be petrified if they are out of sight for a split second. In Dublin city centre, over 15,000 people live within the 30 km/h zone, as well as thousands of children. Many are hostages in their homes due to speeding traffic. There are at least half a dozen schools within the 30 km/h zone, as well as many colleges. Lower speed limits will make it easier to walk or cycle, rather than be driven to school. Why should children not be able to walk to the shops, cycle to school or explore their neighbourhood without parents having to keep a watchful eye out for speeding cars? These days, children need the exercise. If the new 30 km/h limit is enforced, it should be possible for a seven year-old to cycle to school by themselves. When I cycle with my children, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I hear the noise of a speeding car behind me.

Older people will also benefit from lower speed limits and will not be forced to run across roads when the pedestrian light turns green. I am sick and tired of having to shout when I am having a conversation in the middle of Dublin, on Dame Street or on the quays. Even in the past few weeks the change is noticeable and one can rediscover the art of conversation on a city street and this can be good. People will also get a decent night's sleep again if cars are not speeding through town in the middle of the night.

In Dún Laoghaire, a 30 km/h speed limit was introduced at the beginning of the year without controversy. It now means that I can cross George's Street without some boy racer coming out of nowhere when I am half way across the road. The new speed limit does not mean that traffic is banned, rather that it just has to slow down a little.

The new dublinbikes scheme has been a great success. The new speed limits build on that success and will improve the city for residents and tourists alike. I am pleased that we are following the good example of cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. The new speed limits are already calming the traffic and making our city more civilised. They are saving lives. Statistics for the past 15 years show that in the 30 km/h area of Dublin city centre, 48 people lost their lives and the majority of them were pedestrians and cyclists. We know that even in the past five years for which figures are available, eight people died, all of whom were pedestrians. We do not have full statistics for last year's additional fatalities involving cyclists. The lesson is very important - traffic has to slow down. This Bill does a lot to make that happen. The new speed limits, which will be added to by this Bill, are already calming the traffic and making our towns, cities, villages, highways and byways more civilised. Long may that continue.

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