Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I wish the Minister of State well in his new role.

There has been a great deal of talk about the totally unacceptable statistic of 174 of our citizens dying on the roads, about young drivers and about allowing drivers to learn the rules of the road.

In the time available, I want to bring the Minister of State's attention something going on in my hometown of Athy this week. It is a road safety week being run by Richard Daly, the principal of Athy College, and by Barry Keatley of Virtual Driving Hub. They are bringing virtual driving hubs into the schools to allow students to experience various driving conditions on the road at a very young age. Everyone from first year up to sixth year gets the chance to drive a vehicle, albeit in a virtual environment. It is the education that they receive from this that I wanted to bring to the Minister of State's attention tonight because I believe this is where we need to start off. We need to spread what is happening in Athy college this week right around all the secondary schools throughout the country. We need to add road safety to the curriculum. They are not just looking at driving but are also looking at pedestrian safety and cycling safety. As part of this motion, I ask the Minister of State to look at education in our secondary schools. Something like the virtual driving that has been going on this week at Athy College would benefit many people and, most importantly, those who need it most, namely the students as they set out on their driving experience journey. Having listened to the principal, the feedback that I have heard is that they are actually experiencing something that they never thought they would. The experience of the dangers that they are getting from virtual driving will stand to them as they move forward on their driving career. It is something the Minister of State might look at.

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