John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted Deputy Bannon has acknowledged Deputy Mattie McGrath's presence. It is important, after all the remarks he made about him, to acknowledge it so it will appear in the Official Report.

In the earlier part of Deputy Bannon's contribution he gave us a long geographical tour of his constituency and referred to potholes and so forth. Perhaps the Deputy should contact his local Fine Gael and Labour Party councillors because those parties have a majority in most county councils and are in charge of the budgets they receive from central Government. How they manage those budgets will be a test of them, and the Deputy, as to whether they are fit for national office. I do not believe they are.

I welcome the Bill. Again, Deputy Bannon has misrepresented the discussion at the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting. The standard word people reach for is "revolt" when, in fact, it was a discussion about the issues covered by the Bill. It was a case of a number of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas using their membership of the parliamentary party and of the Houses to raise the issues in a way that reflected the difficulties faced by their constituents and having a positive and constructive input into the direction of the Bill. Perhaps Deputy Bannon and others do not understand that process or, for their own political ends, simply do not want to understand it, but that is the reason Members who have a view, not only on this Bill but on others that come before the House, are elected. They are not elected to sit on their hands, but to make a contribution. Depending on the level one has reached, that contribution can be made by way of one's parliamentary party meeting or by direct contribution on the Bill on Second Stage and, if one is a member of the committee, on Committee Stage.

I welcome the opportunity to deal with some of the issues raised in the Bill. The Bill must be considered in the context of the increased number of vehicles on roads. The Minister said 2.5 million vehicles were registered at the end of 2008, an increase of 74%. Although there has been a setback in the motor industry during 2009 and 2010 and the number of vehicle sales has reduced dramatically, there is still the same number of cars, trucks and other vehicles on our roads. Consider, also, the spend on our roads, a total of €1.1 billion on the national roads programme and €412 million for regional roads. It is a significant amount of money. However, as a previous Fianna Fáil election slogan put it: "A lot done, More to do". A great deal has been done and there is more to be done, but that is the nature of politics and of budgets. There must be an overall framework or strategy and one must ensure all one's actions fit into that overall strategy and, indeed, the overall budget that might be available. Whether the budget is big or small, money will always be spent on the roads and we must continue that work.

Unlike Deputy Bannon, I acknowledge the significant amount of money that has been spent on the roads. Anybody who travels on the road network throughout the country must readily acknowledge that today's roads infrastructure is different from that of five, ten or 15 years ago. As demands are met and things improve, there will have to be continued improvements and particularly spend on our county roads. I acknowledge the damage done to those roads by the recent floods and bad weather that affected all parts of the country. Undoubtedly, as we focus on those problems, we will probably spend more money as we go along.

We sympathise with the families who suffered as a result of the 240 road deaths in 2009. That is a central consideration in the improvement of legislation and its implementation by the Garda or any other agency of the State charged with ensuring the legislation passed by the Houses is implemented. That is of huge importance.

Education has been mentioned. I was reminded when Deputy Bannon raised it that the only programme available is from a company located in my constituency. It has the equipment, technology and so forth to present to the Road Safety Authority the ability to carry out appropriate tests to ensure people who have been off the road, be it as a result of drugs or drink, can go through a programme to prove to the licensing authority that they are capable of going back on the road when they have acknowledged whatever deficiencies they might have had and the time they spent off the road. That educational process is available. I have encouraged that company to make a submission to the Road Safety Authority. Given that it has the only technology available in the country, I ask that the submission be considered as part of the Road Safety Authority programme and that something constructive be done to process that application and to ensure the programme is available to the relevant authorities, be they the Garda or the courts. It will ensure an educational tool is available to people in terms of verification of their qualifications and whatever else is necessary to go back on the road again.

Previous speakers mentioned that there has been a long discussion about this legislation and that there were objections to the reduction in the blood alcohol content level. This is the place to raise such queries. The parliamentary party system is another forum for Members of this House who are members of political parties to raise these issues. Yes, indeed, we had a robust debate. However, from my point of view, the debate was not solely about the reduction of the blood alcohol content level. I favour the direction outlined in this Bill. Along with that, however, there must be an understanding that in rural areas there is not the same level or extent of public transport as can be found in urban centres. It is hugely important, therefore, that there is joined-up thinking, which has been called for by most contributors to this debate, about our public transport system. The public transport system in rural counties is appalling.

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