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

I support the Minister's amendment to the 1994 Act. I have been asking the Minister for a long time to address consolidation of road traffic legislation. On its website, the Law Reform Commission appends all the changes that have been made to the Act since 1994, through the Bills passed since then. As that is the case, is it not possible for the Minister to ask the Law Reform Commission to make a full consolidation instead of having the House consider road traffic Bills almost annually? We could have all road traffic Acts in one convenient consolidated Bill, as was done, for example, with the Companies Act 2014 and other legislation.

Deputy Fitzmaurice made the reasonable point that several thousand drivers continue to drive on repeat learner permits. They are, however, entitled to a speedy test. The Minister should address that in the Bill.

I also agree with Deputy Michael Healy-Rae on driver education. Purchasing a house and looking after the household and homestead and purchasing and looking after and driving a vehicle are perhaps the two most important transactions in a person's life. It is reasonable to expect that the educational system should focus on that. It should be an important part of second level education.

There was a horrendous tragedy on the Inishowen Peninsula where a teenager was killed driving a vehicle unaccompanied.

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It brings home to us the urgent need to address the situation. People have referred in the past to joyriding and to unaccompanied driving at a very young age. This can result in a horrendous tragedy for the family, the district and the child. The Minister has set out a reasonable case as to why we should proceed. Looking at the practice across the rest of the European Union, it is interesting that in most countries preparation for driving is an educational process that one goes through. One then proceeds to obtain one's licence.

The main point is that this House tried to legislate for this area in the 2016 Act with an amendment in Deputy Imelda Munster's name. That Bill passed and was signed by the President. The same happened with the rickshaw issue. It is incredible that we have had to go back over this ground at such length. I refer to the section in the 1994 Act and the detention of vehicles and giving additional power to An Garda Síochána in respect of unaccompanied drivers. We could have dealt with this more expeditiously. The Dáil tried to do so in the 2016 Bill. The Minister and the Minister for Justice and Equality have given us the figures in respect of unaccompanied young people who tragically have been killed and seriously injured over the past six or seven years. It is an area of road safety we can address and we should do so with this amendment and the final amendment.

Most of these debates have been attended by Mr. Noel Clancy and his daughter and the relatives of victims of tragic road crashes. It would be fitting that we listen to their pleas and those of tens of thousands of families affected by serious road crashes and fatalities and that we would accept the Minister's amendment.

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