James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I support the call for a debate on road safety, an area on which we must step up action. I was shocked to learn recently that a small device available for sale in the United States and, I am sure, elsewhere can detect speed checks from a distance of three miles. This apparatus needs to be outlawed and the practice condemned. I ask that the Minister for Transport come before the House to inform Senators whether the use of such devices is a criminal offence and, if so, what penalties are available for those caught in their possession. This equipment, which is being used by the young and not so young, will have a serious impact on efforts to overcome our road safety problems. The hatchet needs to be taken to the issue.

Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health and Children to the House to debate the conditions under which some doctors and nurses must work in accident and emergency departments at weekends? Some accident and emergency units resemble war zones. Doctors and nurses are employed to provide a professional service, not to act as security personnel or mediate in rows. It is shameful to learn what happens in accident and emergency departments, which require additional security, particularly at weekends.