Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport to the House and the opportunity to speak on this very important legislation. It is long overdue. The Minister of State indicated that with regard to the code of road traffic legislation in general, it is intended to introduce shortly a Bill to make amendments to the Road Traffic Act. That Bill would include provisions regarding drink-driving, use of mobile phones, speed cameras and enabling provisions to facilitate further reforms of the driving licensing system.

I thought there would be more in this Bill, but the Minister is clearly bringing more legislation before the Oireachtas. I hope the other legislation will be brought before us as a matter of urgency. I travelled to Australia with the Joint Committee on Transport and there is cross-agency compilation of records there. Much information is received from various agencies, and one unit of the organisation would compile nearly all the information and statistics are produced. We do not have statistics in this country so we do not have the information to go on. I hope the further legislation will be brought before the House as a matter of urgency.

With regard to the Road Safety Authority Bill 2004, when the authority is up and running, will it be able to make a recommendation to the Government that a particular stretch of road of very poor quality — be it in Galway, Mayo or wherever — be upgraded or aligned? It may make other recommendations in the interests of safety; will the Government take that on board immediately and take action or will it be another exercise in dust gathering?

It is fundamental that if there is a body such as a national road safety authority, it can make recommendations and such recommendations will be prioritised and be carried out straight away. The funding should be put in place, which is crucial. Otherwise, despite our setting up a national road safety authority, putting people such as a chief executive and chairpersons in place, it will be of no benefit.

The Government's record on road safety is appalling and extremely disappointing. At a time when most European countries are significantly improving their road safety measures and succeeding in reducing the level of death on their roads, our level of road deaths in Ireland is getting worse. In 2005, 399 people were killed on our roads; in 2002 this figure was 23 less at 376. This year, with 150 people dead, 18 more than at this stage last year, it seems this year's figure will be even worse.

The picture is one of a worsening scenario of carnage on our roads. Yesterday, an EU survey placed Ireland's level of enforcement of road safety measures quite low down the scale of European states. In particular, it highlighted our problem in dealing with drink-driving and speeding. This survey once again identifies that we are going backwards on road safety. That is a reason I welcome this Bill and the opportunity to speak on it.

The Government will lay the blame for this level of death and injury at the door of personal responsibility. Individuals have a significant role to play in ensuring that one drives carefully and responsibly, and that the rules of the road are obeyed. The Government and State structures are also very important and play a vital role. In this respect, the current Government should hang its head in shame. It is not new to the fact that we have bad road safety measures.

The Government has had over nine years in office when it could have taken decisive action to reduce deaths. Instead, the Government has produced two glossy road safety strategies and failed to implement the key recommendations contained in them. We have been promised a number of measures from the Government. It promised the full national roll-out of speed cameras but, according to what the Minister of State said today, the necessary legislation has still not been introduced. It also promised the implementation of all 69 penalty point offences and the immediate introduction of a 2,000 strong traffic corps, which is vital to increase enforcement of existing road safety legislation.

The Government promised an increase in the detection of offences such as drink driving and speeding and a complete ban on the use of mobile telephones when driving. A party colleague of mine is introducing legislation proposing a complete ban on hand held mobile telephones but on our visit to Australia we learned that there was no difference between hand held and hands free telephones in terms of their effect on drivers, which is interesting. The telephone, however, is a big distraction in a car, notwithstanding that some people say it is a great asset when driving long distances at night.

We were promised compulsory training for learner motorcycle drivers, and measures to end the horrendous backlog of drivers waiting for a test. We were promised enforcement of the existing provisions barring drivers on a provisional licence from driving unaccompanied. The Government also stated it would introduce measures to ensure the proper qualification of all driving instructors, and that it would reform a driving test system which has remained unchanged since the 1960s. It also promised new rules of the road, which have not been altered in more than ten years.

I have mentioned ten measures which the Government promised to deliver to improve road safety and there are probably more. However, none has been delivered, which is disgraceful. Lives have been lost while the Government has dithered and procrastinated. Even the National Safety Council has repeatedly pleaded with the Government for the implementation of measures which could save 200 lives each year. That amounts to almost 2,000 lives since this Government first took office nine years ago. Instead, this Government and the Minister for Transport have allowed this important issue to remain on the back burner and only now, one year from an election, does it suddenly decide to do something about it.

One of the most significant contributors to the level of deaths and injuries on our roads is the poor standard of driving of our motorists. Irish drivers in many cases take too many chances when driving. They neither know nor obey the rules of the road and have poor driving skills and ability. However, this is hardly surprising given the fact that the driving standards we require of our motorists is at a very low base to begin with. On several occasions in this Chamber I have called, as has a former Member, former Senator Willie Farrell, for a driving code of conduct or a courtesy code for the roads. In England people will automatically let another driver out if they are at a crossroads or a side road. That does not happen in this country. In some cases drivers pass others out on the inside lane, as well as on the outside. One would not see that in England, where they have strict rules on overtaking.

The current system of provisional licensing is totally unacceptable for modern conditions. Currently, one in five drivers on our roads does not have a full driving licence and has never passed a driving test. Worse still, one in seven motorists has been driving on a provisional licence for the past seven years. This means that almost 300,000 drivers have failed the test several times and yet remain on our roads. It is ludicrous that someone can turn up to sit the driving test, fail and then simply drive off. It is bad for the safety of the learner driver and for the safety of fellow motorists.

Provisional licences were always intended to be just that — provisional. They were never, as is now the case, intended to be a lifelong passport to carefree motoring. It is time this charade was brought to an end. I hope that the proposed road safety authority, the subject of the Bill before us today, will sort out this chaotic system. The new authority must put in place structures to ensure that those on provisional licences can sit the driving test in a short period of time and can re-sit the test quickly once they have undergone sufficient training. The Minister of State appeared to suggest such measures in his speech today, which, if correct, is welcome.

At the moment provisional drivers often have no other choice but to continue to drive on a provisional licence. This debacle, in which there is a several month backlog of people waiting for a test, is due to the incompetence of the Government. The Government has allowed nine driver tester vacancies in the driver testing system to remain unfilled for four years. That is not acceptable because it did nothing but expand the waiting lists.

The Minister is also negligent in his handling of the outsourcing of driver testing to the private sector. Last May, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, launched his plan to cut waiting times and the numbers waiting for a test. One year on, the number waiting continues to grow. Outsourcing of testing to the private sector has not taken place. This is the one measure which could have made an impact. The Minister will lay responsibility for his failure to temporarily outsource at the door of the trade unions, but the Minister surely knows that it is within his power and that of his Government to immediately resolve this issue. If the Government insists under the terms of the new national pay agreement that private sector outsourcing be permitted to deal with what is now an emergency situation we could resolve the problem. I urge the Minister to act immediately on this suggestion.

One of the key functions of the new authority must be the urgent reform of the driving test. The current system of testing has been in place since the 1960s, a period when there were far fewer cars on our roads, speed was lower and road conditions very different. Today, there are over 2 million vehicles on our roads, more significant hazards and a greater variety and type of road and road conditions. The current testing system does not reflect these changes. Also, almost half of those who sit the test fail and are still permitted to drive away. There is also significant variation in the level of pass and fail rates throughout the country. This suggests a variation in the standards applied by testers, whose training must also be reviewed by the new authority. In Australia a person remains a learner driver for a number of years before becoming a full driver. Statistics have shown that if people do not have a full licence they are more careful than drivers who receive their full licence and feel they can drive away. There is a graduated licensing system in Australia and it seems to be a good system.

The high level of driving test failure also raises questions about the standard of instruction received by learner drivers. Regulation and quality control of driving instruction in Ireland simply do not exist and it is time for a new authority to ensure they do. Currently, anybody can establish a driving school. It is not even necessary to have a full driving licence, much less own a car. There is a real danger that some schools could be passing on bad driving habits to learner drivers.

It is Fine Gael policy that any driver presenting for a driving test must be able to show that he or she has undertaken a minimum number of driving lessons. This must be complemented by the application of high quality standards in the driving schools that teach our young drivers. I urge the Minister to ensure that the new authority takes on this policy when it is up and running.

When will the Rules of the Road be updated? The current manual is out of date. The Minister promised that he would prioritise this issue but its publication is no nearer. If we cannot get the basics right, how will we properly educate our drivers?

While I welcome the measures in the legislation to establish a unified, strong body to tackle all areas of road safety, I am critical of the way this legislation has been formulated. The Bill before us establishes the authority as little more than a shell. It fails to clarify and comprehensively set out the functions, responsibilities and duties of the new body. These must be dealt with by ministerial order. I will deal with these further on Committee Stage. In effect, the new authority is at the mercy of the Minister. It will not have the power or authority to hit the ground running from the first day. It should be able to do this but instead it must rely on the Minister to delegate functions.

I am obliged to conclude. I wish the Minister luck with the Bill. We will discuss it more comprehensively on Committee Stage.