Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's reply is very disappointing. There does not seem to be any sense of urgency. The previous Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, gave me some very stark figures a few months ago on the number of fatal and serious collisions involving unaccompanied learner drivers between 2012 and the end of November 2016. In 2012 unaccompanied learner drivers were involved in seven fatal collisions and 22 very serious traffic collisions. In 2013 they were involved in four fatal collisions and two unspecified fatal collisions and ten were involved in serious traffic collisions. In 2014 eight learner drivers were involved in fatal traffic collisions and 32 in serious traffic collisions. In 2015 a total of 16 learner drivers were involved in fatal traffic collisions and 24 in serious traffic collisions. Up to November 2016, seven unaccompanied learner drivers were involved in fatal traffic collisions and 24 in serious traffic collisions. Those are very stark figures. I expect Deputy Munster would feel exactly as I do that the Minister is not acting with the sense of urgency that the situation demands. He told us he would get legal advice and he could come forward with whatever amendment is necessary to the 1961 Act or the 1994 Act but he simply has not done so.

Other sections of the 2016 Act have not been commenced, for example, the rickshaw provision. What is the point in coming into the House when the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is not acting? Looking at the Estimates for the Department I also feel he was shafted in the budget negotiations. We came into the House and spent hours talking about legislation, we passed the legislation and did our legislative job-----

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