Feargal Quinn (Independent)

However, I will concentrate on the scandal of deaths on the road. While I agree with much of Senator Dooley's contribution, I disagree with his repetition of the Department's mantra that the recent increase in the number of road deaths, which followed the decrease caused by the introduction of penalty points, is a blip. We found the way to resolve this scandal but we have lost our way since. Drivers copped on that they would not be caught because the penalty points system was not being enforced. The number of road deaths has returned to previous levels and unless it is accepted that the answer is in our hands, we will have work to do.

It is vital to cut through the waffle and get to the truth. People will change their behaviour only if they think they stand a good chance of being caught. Unless the law is enforced consistently, the way people drive will not change. All our effort should be put into enforcing the law. The penalty points experience has demonstrated that the magic bullet is people's belief that they will get caught. Nothing else matters and that is why I welcome the Bill with considerable reservations.

Urgent legislation is needed to underpin the change to the metric system, which is due to take place at the end of January but I deplore the fact that the Bill contains nothing about random breath testing or the rollout of a nationwide network of speed networks and does not make it an offence to use a mobile telephone while driving.

The Minister of State would have us believe that all of these issues are in the works, that he has had urgent consultation with the Attorney General about the legal difficulties and that they will all be included in next year's promised Bill. The scorn poured on all these assurances in the other House is due to the fact that we have heard it all before. We have been listening to promises on imminent action for approximately six years, ever since the first road safety strategy was launched with great fanfare.

We have heard the same from the Minister's predecessors. The Minister of State is new to his job so he does not have to take the blame. He can make these assurances with a straight face and, I am sure, with great sincerity. He certainly has the intention to change the system. However, he does not seem to realise that the system with which he is dealing is highly resistant to change. He does not fully appreciate the enormous frustration created by these endless delays. Meanwhile, more people get injured and more die. More accidents happen because people believe that they can get away with behaviour that is highly destructive, both to themselves and others.

The Minister of State has got into the habit of repeating the mantra that the cure for road deaths lies in people's behaviour. This is true up to a point, but it cannot be used as a way of escaping responsibility. The truth is that the Government has in its hands the only lever that will get people to change their behaviour, namely, the rigorous implementation of the law. To have that lever and not use it is not only negligent, but criminal.

As we heard from Senators Paddy Burke and Dooley, we need to police the roads where most of the accidents happen, not the motorways or dual carriageways, but the narrow country roads that are real death traps. We need to police these blackspots at the times of most risk, late at night and in particular at weekends. The irony is that such implementation as we have is focused on the wrong places at the wrong times. It is this problem we need to consider.

For years we have been promised a dedicated Garda traffic corps and there are now signs of this happening. Even if we get it, will it be properly deployed or will we hear the same old argument about overtime over and over again?

I have become convinced that the answer to our implementation problem is a proper nationwide network of speed cameras. I called for this in an article in The Irish Times of 25 September. Speed cameras could be put in the right places to work all the time. They will not look for overtime either. When we get the network of cameras, if ever, they must be seen to work. We must remember that it is not enough to simply put them in place.

After publication of my article, I was shocked to learn that almost half of the cases recorded by existing cameras never made it to court because of technical problems that made the evidence useless. This illustrates the half-hearted way we approach implementation of road traffic law. Cameras are a solution and we have it in our hands to do something about this. It will cost us but the return on investment in cameras and ensuring they work is significant. Our half-hearted approach has gone on too long and caused too many deaths.

I urge the Minister of State to break the mould and become the first in this area to focus on getting things done. I feel so strongly about this because I believe we have the answer in our hands. We can make it work and reduce deaths on the road. Numbers of deaths were down immediately after the introduction of penalty points, but as soon as the public realised the system was not being enforced the number of deaths rose again. Let us seize the opportunity now to do something.

Senator Dooley also suggested that an all-Ireland penalty point system is essential. I travel quite a lot and it is clear that cars from Northern Ireland ignore the speed limit south of the Border.