Feargal Quinn (Independent)

There is a possibility that when a story hits the headlines, such as the scandals in the financial institutions, it distracts our attention from some other areas on which we should focus. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Tom Kitt, yesterday brought Bono to a meeting of EU development ministers to draw attention to our responsibility for reaching the target of giving 0.7% of our gross national product for development aid. Senator Henry has raised this on many occasions. Let us make sure we keep our attention on the issue because an interesting figure was cited for several countries which had aimed at targets but did not realise that as they became wealthier the percentage would involve more money. The point was well made that as a country becomes wealthier its percentage contribution increases in value. That is a good sign because it means that a country is wealthier and is therefore able to afford it. We are falling short. We have set a target for 2007 but we are only half way there and we must focus our attention on that.

The Minister for Transport spoke about the number of no-shows for driving tests and seemed surprised at this. If one must delay 12 months before receiving an appointment one cannot be expected to remember the appointment. The Minister is taking some steps but he could take more to ensure greater safety on our roads by not allowing so many people to drive without having passed a driving test and on provisional licences. We should take an immediate step on this because something much more urgent needs to be done than has recently been done.