Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

We all know people who have lost someone on our country's roads. We have come a long way, but the reminder of the huge loss of life is on the sides of the road in every county, on the crosses which dot the State due to road deaths. One of the few positive aspects of the previous Government's record over the past ten to 15 years is that there was success in reducing the number of road fatalities. This was done through a mix of public awareness, education, and adjustments to enforcement and licensing. The number of road deaths has fallen dramatically as a result of these measures, which brought home the realities to people of the potential danger of car travel and the responsibility of all people to keep safe and to be considerate towards others.

Road safety advertisements are vivid and graphic, but they have caused people to rethink actions and attitudes to driving, taking in drink driving, driving while on a phone call, or the recent phenomenon of texting while driving. Those advertisements have increased awareness, in spite of being very graphic. They represent the horrible reality to which we must all face up when we turn the key in the ignition. Driving is dangerous, and caution and care are essential.

I welcome the Bill. It promotes road safety in a sensible and proper manner. I particularly welcome recent proposals by a Minister in the North, Mr. Alex Attwood MLA, that there will be harmonising of limits across the island, which is common sense policy and which will aid drivers, pedestrians and law enforcement officials in keeping the roads as safe as possible. This is critical for communities along the Border. A good next step would be for the Minister to work through the North South Ministerial Council to develop a harmonised road safety policy and enforcement across the whole island to ensure the safety of pedestrians and motorists North and South. I encourage the Minister to continue this work.

In welcoming the Bill, I draw attention to the fact that early figures for 2011 show a slight spike in deaths. I hope this will not become a trend. I am concerned about a possible contradiction between this Bill to enhance road safety and other Government policies and actions that result from budget cuts. Planned and already implemented cuts to public services are very likely to have a direct impact on front line services. It would be wrong for budget cuts to have an impact on the ability of the Garda to enforce this Bill. It would also be wrong if budget cuts had an impact on the ability of the Garda to reduce the number of intoxicated and dangerous drivers on our roads, and remove unsafe vehicles. It would be wrong for such cuts to affect the ability of emergency services to respond to accidents and the ability of accident and emergency units to deal with major road traffic trauma. There is a possibility that the good work of this Bill could be undone by spending cuts.

Drink driving is a major issue and it clearly impairs drivers. There has been a massive cultural shift in how people view drink driving, and great work has been done to discourage people from engaging in this grossly irresponsible behaviour, but additional measures must be explored. Examples include providing options for rural areas which do not have public transport and which have already faced cuts to the rural transport programme.

I take this opportunity to highlight briefly an issue raised by Senator Kathryn Reilly, namely, emergency responses. Ambulances have to be first at the scene of an accident, and if the fire brigade is required, it will be sent out. This could lead to problems if a car goes on fire, as the fire brigade will not be at hand as a first response to deal with the fire. There are many cases across the State where an ambulance was helpless until the fire brigade arrived. The idea of an automatic call to the fire service as well as the ambulance service must be examined.

My party supports the measures in the Bill to ensure continued safety on our roads, with the objective of continuing to lower the number of road deaths. We cannot afford to cut the front line services or driver testing services. The Garda needs to be adequately funded to deal with this problem, including the provision of new breath testing equipment, as well as equipment to deal with drug testing, which I believe the Minister is examining. We cannot undo the good work of this Bill by under funding other vital aspects of road safety.

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