James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Callely. I hope he has tuned in to what has been said in this important debate on road safety and that he will take note of the points made.

Ireland is the only country in the EU where there is an upward trend in road deaths. There is absolutely nothing the Government can do to spin its way out of this, the figures that exist tell a story of human suffering and misery beyond understanding, which could be prevented by the necessary legislative and enforcement measures.

Most importantly and tellingly, the National Safety Council has stated that half of these deaths could be avoided if the proper enforcement structures were in place. That is, they could be prevented by a strong Government, which could tackle the horrific carnage that we see on our roads. That certainly does not describe the present Government which has exhibited great inaction on the issue of road safety. Here we get to the nub of the matter. We have a Government which does not enforce its own legislation or initiatives. Every action of the Government sends out a message of low priority in regard to driver behaviour and the subsequent threat to road safety. How can we be surprised when some drivers pick up this signal and cause mayhem, injury and death on our roads?

A total of 2,000 extra gardaí were promised after the election in 2002, but we now know that this figure will not be met until 2008 — another promise. This delay is impacting on the effective policing of road safety measures.