Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a very important debate. I welcome the Minister of State and the comments I have heard so far. Much more needs to be done because far too many lives are being lost. The more people who die in tragic circumstances, the more appalling the vista for the families affected and the people who are injured as a result of road traffic accidents. Tens of thousands of people have significant disabilities as a result of road traffic accidents over the years.

I would like to address two initial issues, one of which is in my constituency. Drogheda is the biggest town in Ireland but it does not have a driving test centre because the Road Safety Authority will not put one in the town. I would be very happy if the Minister of State visited Drogheda as soon as possible to talk to people about what can be done about this. I have met the chief executive and deputy chief executive of the Road Safety Authority and all sorts of experts who say it cannot be done. What a load of rubbish. Every town and village in Ireland can have one but we do not have one in Drogheda. There an issue that I cannot put a finger on. I have done cross-references and submitted freedom of information requests to find out what the hell is going on but it is absolutely unacceptable that a space for a test centre will not or cannot be found. Different properties have been offered to the Road Safety Authority but nothing happens. If we want to teach people how to drive properly, they should be able to learn in the biggest town nearest to them and in the biggest town in Ireland but they cannot do so.

I appreciate the green agenda and I have no issue with it as such. I am forever angry, however, that people have no choice but to drive to work. Here is a problem for the Green Party, Fine Gael Party and Fianna Fáil Party in Government. We need strategic park and ride services on the approaches to Dublin where people can link in safely and well with public transport that is available 24-7. That would take a lot of cars and other vehicles out of the city centre. Dublin City Council has declared a war on cars and those who have to use a damn road to go somewhere but it does not give these road users the choice of parking their car. These people live in the country and do not know what time they will be going to work or coming home from work. There is no urgency about this. It is an anti-car position because no options are provided for the person who has no choice. That can be easily and reasonably addressed. I know there was a plan for a major park and ride facility at the junction near the Malahide estuary but nothing has been provided.

Why is it not there? There would be tens of thousands of additional journeys on public transport.

The other question I will raise is that of safety in the port tunnel. As someone who uses the tunnel regularly, I am amazed and shocked by the speed at which some people go there. In particular, is there anybody who has used the port tunnel who does not see some monster of a truck pushing them to go faster and faster? If you try to stick to the official speed limit of 80 km/h, you cannot do it because these guys are right behind you. Many of these lorries do not keep the distance they are obliged to keep. They are supposed to keep three of these white marks - I forget what they are called right now. Drivers are supposed to keep an adequate, fair and safe distance between one another. That does not happen, and I would like to know - I will table a parliamentary question if it is helpful - how many people have been prosecuted for speeding in the tunnel. I have never read of one yet but I see it every day. Every day I worry. I have also seen tankers carrying petroleum spirit in the tunnel. I presume they are carrying it to places where there are aircraft, but I see them breaking the speed limit and some of them are not adequately or properly marked. I am very concerned about the proximity of vehicles to one another. If somebody comes to the pay station at the port tunnel and does not have the fob, there are times when there are queues of eight, nine or ten cars. There are people reversing to get into the next lane. It is dangerous. We need an adequate and appropriate response if it goes on for more than a minute. I presume there is the capacity, as there is in other places, to take the number of the vehicle and go after the driver. There are lots of safety issues there that are not being dealt with.

Last, and most important of all, every damn road I pass in County Louth, and lots of other places, is riddled with appalling potholes-----

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