Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. Without question, our party fully supports the legislation. It is welcome that it is before the House today. It was promised to be introduced in the Dáil before the end of the last session, but it did not reach the agenda at the time so it is important that we are debating this issue on the first day of the new Dáil session.

Significant progress has been made in this area in the last number of years. In 1997 the Garda national roads policing bureau was established. It was the first real indication that we had to take drastic consideration of the number of deaths on our roads. The Road Safety Authority was established in 2006 and it has done fabulous work in the area of advocacy and in creating awareness of the devastation that road crashes cause. Over the last number of years we have seen the introduction of penalty points for motoring offences, including speeding, use of a mobile telephone while driving, driving without insurance, driving without due care and driving without ensuring that children of a certain age are in appropriate seats in the car. In fact, when I looked at the Road Safety Authority website earlier today I was surprised at the list of the offences that are covered by penalty points. It is quite comprehensive.

Consider the number of deaths on our roads in the early 2000s. In 2000, there were 417 deaths on our roads. In 2006, the year the Road Safety Authority was established, the number had decreased to 365 and last year was the best year to date with 165 road deaths. Unfortunately, this year the number appears to be on an upward trajectory. If one compares the number this year up to 27 September with the number for the relevant period last year, there is an increase of 23 fatalities. It is not only deaths that take place on the roads. People are also very seriously injured. While I have never had occasion to visit the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, I know many people who were there. They tell me that if one could organise a tour or excursion there for young males, because they account for the highest percentage of road crashes, where they could see at first hand the devastation caused by car crashes and the people who are paralysed, without limbs or confined to wheelchairs, it might be one of the best educational exercises that could take place.

We must never lose sight of the need to keep pace with the risks that materialise and to ensure that road safety remains the priority that it was in the past. Behind each of the statistics the Minister and I have mentioned are real stories of families that has been totally devastated by an accident, through the loss of a father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter. Many Members will have visited a home or a wake, as I have in the past, where somebody's life was taken unexpectedly by a tragic accident. We have a sense of hopelessness and helplessness on such occasions. There is nothing we can do to help the family that has been bereaved by an awful tragedy. However, what we can and must do is ensure that there is appropriate legislation, road improvements and significant policing and enforcement in place.

Over recent years, unfortunately, for some unknown reason the number of deaths on our roads has increased. Why is that? Undoubtedly, some it is due to the fact that there is less policing of our roads. The numbers in the Garda traffic corps have decreased, as has the number of checkpoints. As a result of that deterrent being removed, the number of fatalities has increased. We must address that. While I welcome this legislation, I ask the Minister, in his reply to the debate, to confirm the Government's commitment to road safety and to confirm that it is a priority for the Government and that not only will the necessary amendments be made to the legislation but also that it will ensure that the necessary resources will be put in place, so the arms of the State can implement and police the legislation.

Before turning to the Bill's provisions, I refer to the excellent advocacy work carried out by families who have been bereaved. The Minister alluded to this as well. A lady in Mullingar, Donna Price, lost her son a number of years ago in a road traffic accident. Her son was on his way back to college. He was an excellent sportsman who played with a local GAA club. Ms Price established the Irish Road Victims Association to support those bereaved or injured by road traffic collisions and to campaign for justice, rights and recognition for road crash victims. It comprises a group of people, many of whom have lost a loved one in a road traffic collision or have been injured themselves, and their colleagues, relatives and friends. At a practical level, the association has produced a guide for families of victims of road traffic collisions. It outlines the steps involved in the professional Garda investigation of serious injury and fatal collisions, subsequent post mortem, inquests and legal proceedings. As described on the association's website, a road death is not like a normal death. It is a violent death, as violent as murder, and, like murder, is totally unexpected.

What we are debating today is extremely significant and, undoubtedly, we will support the legislation. Part 2 of the Bill relates to the intoxicated driving offence and creates the new offence of driving with the presence of certain specified drugs, with a number of additional amendments to assist in tackling driving under the influence of drugs. I am concerned that the list of banned substances appears to be very limited. It includes cannabis, with the exception of cannabis that is medically prescribed. One would wonder whether those persons should be driving even though it is medically prescribed. It also includes heroin and another substance which I cannot remember at present.

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