Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I join with Senator Brian Hayes in welcoming the legislation on road safety which the Minister proposes to bring before us tomorrow. We all agree that the introduction of penalty points in particular has led to phenomenal results in terms of road safety over the past 12 months. Some 70 lives have been saved. I am sure the Leader agrees that the Minister has acted quickly to introduce legislation to ensure there are no challenges at a later stage. Publicity is vitally important, particularly in the run up to Christmas when many accidents occur due to drink driving. Statistics have shown that when a road safety publicity campaign is undertaken, lives are saved. I welcome anything which can be done in this House or in the other House to ensure a high level of publicity is generated.