Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Obviously I am a member of the committee which debated this Bill. We debated it at pre-legislative stage and then it went through Second Stage and Committee Stage.

We knew the aforementioned amendment was coming but as there were some difficulties in ensuring it was technically correct, we are seeing it at quite a late stage, which we had expected. It is not the ideal way to introduce an amendment. Having said that, the motion is important and I will support it. I think it is aimed at saving lives, including rural lives. It probably came as a surprise to many of us that it was not part of the legislative framework to begin with. The origin of this is the Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Care on our Roads, ​PARC, group, which consists of families who have had a loved one - indeed, in some cases, more than one - killed by people who were not licensed to drive on their own. We must keep them very much to the fore. This measure is intended to try to ensure that some of these terribly sad cases do not reoccur. In many ways, this legislation gives some degree of meaning to these awful tragedies in that at least the victims' loved ones, by making the argument, are trying to protect other people into the future. For this reason, I support the motion. I do not like the idea that we do not see significant measures such as these introduced when the Bill is first published. I accept that things are added afterwards, usually on Committee Stage. This is quite a late stage at which to add such measures, which is why the mechanism of having this debate in advance of proceeding to Report Stage is occurring. There were some arguments to include other aspects in the Bill in respect of cycling, for example. They were ruled out of order on the basis that they were not consistent with what the Bill was attempting to do. I would make the argument that this is slightly at variance with the other aspects of the Bill, although I think they are all intended as a road safety and life-saving initiative. Therefore, as I said, I will support the motion.

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