Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I will share time with Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick.

I welcome this important Bill. We must send a message regarding the abuse of alcohol in society, whether from a social or cultural point of view or while driving. Ireland, as a nation, has a problem with alcohol which needs to be addressed. Action is required before it is too late and, as law makers, it is our job to legislate for the common good and the safety of all citizens. The culture of alcohol consumption and misuse must change.

I welcome the Minister's comprehensive and enlightened speech. It should be used across our educational establishments in which we are trying to promulgate a message not only of road safety but also of showing care and respect for others and taking responsibility. It is time that we recognised that we have a responsibility when we are behind the wheel of a car. Not only are we going on an excursion, but we are also taking to the public highway and we must share it with and show respect towards other road users.

As the Minister noted, it is no longer acceptable to drink and drive, which is a welcome development. In rural areas people used to go to the pub for one or two social drinks before driving home. However, recent changes in the drink drive limit have had an impact on this practice. I hope the Minister will consider the possibility of working with vintners, rural agencies and others to provide some form of public transport for those affected.

We have engaged in a great process regarding road safety and I compliment the previous Government on its efforts in this regard. We have changed mindsets and driving behaviour and opened people's eyes to the dangers of bad driving and consuming alcohol while driving. We must now do similar work on the taking of illegal drugs while driving. I hope this will be a platform in the future.

The Road Safety Authority deserves great praise for the work it has done in pushing out boundaries by encouraging people to examine their own behaviour. Its road safety advertisements have left a lasting impression. The testimony and narrative of the parents and siblings of people who have died in road traffic accidents resonate because their stories are human. In her very good speech Deputy Catherine Murphy gave us statistics and different representations from throughout the country. We are talking about human lives, the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives of people. If this Bill does nothing else but open the minds of a generation aged between 16 and 35, it will have been worthwhile. This is not about Government or politicians taking on the vintners, the pub trade or the alcohol industry but about human lives being saved and transformed as a consequence of good legislation.

I return to the three E's of education, enforcement, engineering. I agree wholeheartedly with Deputy Catherine Murphy. In some of the areas where we need to have law enforcement such as speed cameras and vans, we have none. In my naivety I cannot comprehend why there can be two or three Garda checkpoints on the Cork-Dublin motorway, on a straight stretch of road capable of accommodating cars at speeds of 120 km/h, when on certain parts of our public highways there is no enforcement. That needs to be examined. There must be joined-up thinking.

I return to the issue of education. It is very important we use the transition year module in secondary schools as a medium for reaching towards young people. Teenagers are impressionable. They are in their formative years and need to be taught. They see some of their peers learning to drive and driving. They see certain behaviour as thrill seeking and try to imitate it. They see some of us, who perhaps drive slowly, as boring. I hope we can have a cross-party approach with the VEC, the Department of Education and Skills and other Departments, and go into schools. In my school in Ballincollig there was a very good driving module as part of transition year which I hope could be used throughout the country. It is important people of that age understand that when they are driving, they have a responsibility to themselves as well as to others on the road. We need to strengthen our educational message and communicate it to that 18-30 age group. I do not know whether they get the message. In spite of the good work being done, we need to reach out more and take a prolonged approach to the subject.

In his remarks the Minister stated that one in three fatal accidents occur as a consequence of alcohol. As one who, as a student, worked as a porter in Cork University Hospital, I saw for myself at first hand the impact of road traffic accidents, some linked to alcohol. I saw at first hand the injuries and fatalities and the impact on the families. It taught me a valuable lesson that our life is precious. It is a gift given to us and we must protect and preserve it as much as we can.

I am also concerned about the use of mobile telephones. Some of us have bought mobile telephone car kits or have had Bluetooth services installed. We stopped the habit of texting because it is illegal and wrong, and we lead by example. We no longer put the handset up to our ear. On my journeys from Cork to Dublin, I look at some of the cars and lorries and see people using their mobile telephones. I cannot comprehend how a driver of an articulated lorry on the bend of a road can have a mobile telephone in one hand and steer the lorry around. I do not intend to pick on articulated lorry drivers because they do a tremendous amount of work and are very skilled drivers. I cannot comprehend how one can manage to drive a car at speed on the Cork-Dublin road while using a mobile telephone. One cannot do it. One cannot be in charge of a car travelling at 115 km/h or 120 km/h and have a mobile telephone to the ear with the radio on too, perhaps at half mast. If we are talking about the culture of alcohol, as we must and as is right, we must also talk about how we can change the culture of the use of mobile telephones in cars. I do not want a prohibition on mobile telephones in cars but we need to get serious. I would love to see the statistics for the enforcement of penalty points on people who use mobile telephones and who text while driving. I cannot comprehend how one can do that.

I pay tribute to our first responders who do an excellent job. They are the people who go out in the dead of night, when it is wet or cold, and respond to accidents. Along with the Garda, they ensure there is safety on our roads.

I notice that section 3 deals with the issue of defective vehicles. There is now a group of people who, through no fault of their own, are in financial difficulty and are failing to maintain their cars, perhaps the wipers or the tyres, or perhaps do not have their car insured or taxed. They are a danger to themselves and to others on the road. I very much hope we will go after some of these people and, if necessary, reach a payment plan with them regarding car insurance and car tax. There was a series of television programmes about the NCT test and we must change our mindset about it in order that it can continue to be a proper car test. It is about car roadworthiness.

This is very important legislation because it deals with human lives and preserving and protecting fellow road users. All of us use cars. Some of us do not have the luxury of having a driver in a ministerial or a Leas-Cheann Comhairle's car but we-----

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