Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)

I wish the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, well in the Department in the years ahead. If we can make a serious improvement in terms of reducing fatalities and ensuring safer roads, it would be a very healthy aspect of this Administration.

This is my first contribution to the House. I consider it an honour to be elected as a Labour Party Deputy for Cork South-West. I am the fifth Labour Deputy for the constituency and the fourth from my home town of Dunmanway. I am particularly pleased to speak on the Bill. Road safety is obviously a very important issue nationally, and a critical one in my home area. It is a particular honour for me to contribute to such an important debate in my maiden speech in the House.

It is very welcome that we have experienced a decline in the number of road deaths in the past decade. I read in today's newspaper that from January 2011 up to this week, 55 people have died on our roads, and that figure is 16 more than for the same period last year. It is a reminder, if we need it, that we cannot become complacent in terms of taking our eye off the bigger picture or of assuming that when the figures are positive, this will continue to be the case into the future. Such statistics remind us, unfortunately, this is not the case.

There is probably no one in the House who has been unaffected by the issue of fatalities on our roads. In our families, neighbourhoods and communities, we readily see the devastation and trauma that occurs throughout the country. It is particularly difficult for families and communities to recover from this. When one considers the circumstances that lead to such fatalities, including the mindlessness and the attitudes concerned, one can arrive at the conclusion that everything about the issue is pointless. The circumstances that allow a person to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs with the result that lives are lost because of such mindless behaviour, are particularly difficult to stomach.

In the case of rural communities, we have long had a situation where there was almost an assumption that a person was entitled to have a few drinks and get behind the wheel of a car. Changing that type of mindset was a major task in terms of trying to address the fundamentals of where we were going wrong in terms of road fatalities. We have made major improvements. One need only cast one's mind back to the early 1990s when Mr. Michael Smith was Minister for the Environment and introduced legislation to reduce blood alcohol limits, which met huge resistance at the time.

As a society, it has taken us a long time to become absolutely minded that we must eliminate this behaviour entirely. While it causes huge difficulty in terms of getting people to shift to this way of thinking, nonetheless, it is an important place for us to be. Changing attitudes and the behaviour people have become used to is a fundamental task. Although we have overcome it to an extent, driver behaviour remains a challenge into the future.

In terms of contributing to legislative change, the change required in behaviour and social habits is important in terms of ensuring we reduce the number of fatalities on our roads. It is possible to make changes in terms of improving the road network and improving driver behaviour through coercive measures such as the shock advertisements on television. I ask the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to take up this important issue. In terms of communicating the devastation involved, it is important we examine television advertising and the resources made available to the Road Safety Authority in this regard. Early intervention through, for example, the schools is also important. Showing advertisements with this kind of shock value to the young helps to inculcate in them an understanding of the evils of drink driving, speeding and the unfortunate tragedies that follow in terms of lost lives.

When one qualifies for a provisional licence at 17, there is a huge sense of excitement and enthusiasm in regard to getting behind the wheel of a car for the first time and asserting one's independence as a young adult. It is important in terms of Government policy that we use the schools to get into the minds of younger people from a very early age so, when they arrive at the exciting point where they qualify for a provisional licence, they are extremely cognisant of the responsibilities on them as young drivers, particularly in terms of the downsides of driver behaviour. If one begins with the younger generation, it is much easier to influence and even change behaviour.

The smoking ban serves as a comparison. It is now socially unacceptable to smoke in this country, which is a major sea change from the position some years ago when one could smoke on buses, trains, aeroplanes and in all aspects and walks of life. Changing the mindset is critical in this regard.

We in the House must ensure we provide the legislative framework for the Garda Síochána to make our roads safe. I appreciate the Bill is an interim measure until the Road Traffic Act 2010 comes into effect later this year. My main point is that while it is all very well to introduce laws, we must ensure sufficient resources are available for the Garda to enforce the law, as well as for the Road Safety Authority to do its job.

When it comes into effect, the Bill, although not as stringent as the 2010 Act, will provide the legal basis for the mandatory testing of drivers in certain circumstances. While this is to be welcomed, we must ensure the technology that will be deployed by the Garda is capable of dealing with the issues that arise. We must ensure a situation does not develop whereby people who want to avoid prosecution and penalties will test the legality and constitutionality of this type of infrastructure in the courts. There would be an enormous backlog of cases. We must be cognisant of that before we set out.

The developments contained in this Bill and those that will come into effect later in the year will reinforce our drink driving enforcement regime and will also give out the constant message that drink driving simply will not be accepted. There is absolutely no ambiguity with regard to the law in this area and that is why I believe it is prudent to postpone the introduction of evidential breath-testing devices until later in the year. This will allow time until the testing of and training with the machines is complete and we will avoid the possible vista I outlined.

The Bill is an interim measure. It maintains the current permitted alcohol levels in advance of tighter regulations to come into effect later in the year. When the new blood alcohol concentration levels for drivers come into effect, including lower levels for recently qualified and younger drivers, they will bring about a very stringent approach to drink driving. For learner drivers, if we begin this type of regime early on in driver life and for those driving for the first time, it will be a particularly proactive and effective measure towards what we seek. We have seen much progress in recent years on these issues and it would be unacceptable to let such progress slip away. We must ensure that resources are in place for the Garda Síochána and the National Safety Council.

I have no hesitation in supporting this Bill and I wish the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, the very best in the Department in years to come.

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