Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and congratulate Deputy Dooley on his efforts in drafting it. I also welcome many of the measures contained in the Bill and note the Minister's intention to transpose elements of it into Government legislation, which is a good demonstration of the benefits of reforms introduced in this House, including the Friday sitting. That Ministers such as the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, are willing to engage in a positive way, take on board proposals and incorporate them into Government legislation is to be welcomed. However, we need to ensure that Bills introduced during Friday sittings in this House that are not accepted by the Minister are allowed to progress to Committee Stage; otherwise, there is no point in Government backbenchers such as myself or members of the Opposition such as Deputies Dooley or Catherine Murphy drafting them and bringing them forward for debate. We need to look at how many Bills introduced during Friday sittings are progressing to Committee Stage and, where this is not happening, the reason why.

The Minister referred in his contribution to the reduction in road fatalities and serious injuries over the past decade, which is to be welcomed. Equally, it is worrying that the number of road fatalities has increased this year.

As the Minister stated, there are several reasons for this and therefore we need to approach the area from several angles, but it is a concerning trend and one we need to pay attention to because we have been going in the right direction in this area for so long and it would be a bad thing if we were to take a step back for whatever reason.

Deputy Catherine Murphy made some interesting points in this area, including a reference to the presence of gardaí on our roads at the moment. It is noticeable, particularly in Dublin. Another point Deputy Murphy made related to the condition of roads. Again, this is noticeable in Dublin. I realise the Minister has been fighting his own battles to retain funding in his budgets for the maintenance and upgrade of roads. There is not enough money to spend at the moment and that is something we need to examine because it is a cause, in certain instances, of fatalities on our roads. Certainly, this has been the case in some serious incidents. We have seen this in incidents involving cyclists when the carriageway beside the footpath or the median is not being maintained. Potholes can develop and, as a result, the cyclist can find himself in a dangerous situation. He may swerve out of the way, then the car must swerve, in turn, and in certain instances this has resulted in an accident. This is something we need to examine in a joined-up manner, as Deputy Murphy adverted to, and we should try to figure out the actual cost. If it is a question of spending €50 million on maintaining our roads, improving them and working on health and safety to save €100 million or €200 million when it comes to the health aspect, including the money spent after an injury or an accident, then it is something we should consider in terms of how we invest our money prudently in the infrastructure in the State.

Another issue Deputy Dooley referred to relates to hit-and-run incidents, which are serious. A separate road safety issue is not as serious but it is relevant and since the Minister is in the Chamber I am keen to raise it. This relates to the behaviour of pedestrians and cyclists who break traffic laws, especially cyclists involved in hit-and-run events. This is becoming more of a menace on Dublin's city streets and pavements. It is time we started to consider seriously introducing on-the-spot fines for cyclists or pedestrians who are in breach of road traffic laws. It happens in other countries. In other countries, if a cyclist is cycling the wrong way down a one-way street, breaks a red light or is found on the footpath, a police officer or traffic warden is able to stop the person and fine him on the spot. If that person does not have the money on him, he is walked to the nearest automatic teller machine. It happened to me when I was in Prague some years ago. I was caught on the subway without a ticket and I was walked to an ATM and had to take money out. There is no reason we cannot do it here. We should start to do it because the incidence of cyclist deaths is small in the city and has reduced, but the incidence of cyclists cycling in a dangerous manner, especially on footpaths or through parks where they should dismount, is rising and is causing injury to people.

We want to increase the number of cyclists on our road because it is a good thing. One way to make cycling safe is to have more people cycling. However, we want to ensure people are cycling in a responsible manner. We have a great educational programme for children of a young age. We see children wearing helmets and high-visibility vests but we see adults cycling on footpaths and that is dangerous. If we want to stop that behaviour we have to do it through fines because a simple warning or the actions of another pedestrian shouting at such a person to get off the footpath will not change behaviour. Cyclists will continue to break the lights if no one stops them, calls them on it and fines them for their behaviour. Since he is in the Chamber I call on the Minister to consider these measures.

Naturally, we need to look at how people are driving on the roads as well. That is essential because the car is the most dangerous vehicle on the road from the point of view of safety, but we should look at the behaviour of pedestrians and cyclists too, because they are part of the cohort who share the road and in certain circumstances they have been part of the cause of accidents that have occurred in terms of fatalities and serious injuries.

To come back to the measures contained in the Bill, I note the concerns the Minister has in respect of certain elements of the Bill and I support him in this regard. Furthermore, I welcome the efforts the Minister is making to take the other elements of Deputy Dooley's Bill in respect of hit-and-run cases into his own legislation. I congratulate Deputy Dooley on the measures and on bringing them forward in legislation.

See this speech in context