James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Gallagher, to the House. Regrettably, he is part of a Government which does not enforce its own legislation or initiatives. Its every action sends a message of low priority in respect of driver behaviour and the consequent threat to road safety. Hence, can Members be surprised when some drivers pick up this signal and cause mayhem, injury and death on our roads?

This leads me to question the extent to which the Bill will have an impact on road death statistics. If the ensuing Act was to be strongly enforced by the Government, the benefits for drivers would result in lives being saved. However, persistent lack of activity would mean continued death and carnage, as well as grief for bereaved families.

According to articles in today's edition of The Irish Times, and other newspapers, a report on road safety in all 25 EU states has placed the Republic of Ireland in 13th place in terms of law enforcement. This constitutes an indictment of the Government. The European Transport Safety Council study measured the progress of member states in enforcing speeding, drink-driving and seat belt laws from 2003 to 2004. This is the first independent analysis of road safety enforcement across the enlarged EU.

The main finding for Ireland is that we lag behind in the enforcement of drink-driving laws. It contends that we have the second lowest number of drink-driving checks within the EU and this poor record was due to the absence of random breath testing.

Finland had the highest score, with "exemplary speeding and drink-driving enforcement records". The example of Sweden, which had the second highest score, brought home the reality of the problem of road deaths in Ireland. Last year, 450 people died on Swedish roads, compared with 400 in Ireland. However, the population of Sweden is more than twice that of Ireland.

Much of the problem with regard to safety on our roads can be laid at the door of our spendthrift Government. Despite throwing away millions of euro on one fiasco after another, it has failed to set a budget for the road safety strategy, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to gauge the performance measures taken on foot on the strategy. The Irish Insurance Federation has called for more resources to be devoted to road safety following a 7% increase in fatalities. I fully agree with its contention that road safety must be given the political priority and resources it so desperately needs before many more people needlessly lose their lives on our roads.

The state of our roads is disgraceful and lack of a proper road infrastructure in some areas, combined with the lack of proper road maintenance, are among the main contributory factors to our overly high level of road fatalities. For example, the midlands, and counties Longford and Westmeath in particular, were totally overlooked in the Transport 21 proposals. Consequently essential works on what are some of the most dangerous roads in Ireland have been omitted.

I have raised the issue of road safety many times in the House, and have called for an urgent debate with the Minister for Transport on plans to improve road safety. Dangerous roads, particularly in the midlands, such as the N55 between Athlone and Cavan, the N53 between Kinnegad and Tyrrellspass and the N63 between Longford and Lanesboro, are at the crossroads of Ireland and constitute important strategic routes. However, together with the appallingly bad stretch between Edgeworthstown and Armagh city, which runs close to Senator Wilson's home, they pose a serious threat to the safety of the public.

I refer to the proposed extension of the dual carriageway from Mullingar through Longford and on to Sligo. While this has been promised, it has not been delivered on in Transport 21. There have been a number of serious accidents, some fatal, on the stretch of road between Longford and Mullingar in the past decade. Whenever the issue is raised by local Deputies, the reply is that the matter will be dealt with when the dual carriageway is put in place. However, the extension of the dual carriageway from Mullingar through Longford and on to Sligo was not mentioned in Transport 21 and the people of the midlands have been let down by its omission.

Previously in this House, I have highlighted the death of a young man in my own parish, on the worst stretch of a county road in the midlands, namely, the Rathowen to Legan road at Ballygarvey. A large percentage of similar deaths on country roads are due to their neglected and dreadful condition. Sometimes, while a road has been surface dressed, deep embankments have been left on either side and this issue has not been dealt with by either the Government or local authorities.

These roads were described as the "roads to hell" following a survey earlier this year by the Automobile Association. The roads to which I referred were highlighted, in addition to a significant number of other dangerous roads which are a major threat to our safety. The Minister of State should be in no doubt that the condition of our roads and the need to deal with the situation, come up repeatedly. Problems with road signage and markings are not dealt with because some local authorities are cash-starved, particularly those authorities with a low rate base. The survey describes the Edgeworthstown to Armagh road, the N56, N54 and A3, as the worst continuous stretch, varying between medium to high risk and very high risk.

There was a major underspend on roads last year and many of those which needed remedial action were in the BMW region. Along with other Members, I have repeatedly called for a debate with regard to underspending in the BMW region. Although the plans for many roads and bypasses are in place, the Government has failed to release the money. Were such routes upgraded and improved, it would bring about greater safety.

Members should feel helpless and despairing when they learn that, on average, every garda in rural Ireland only arrests one driver per annum on suspicion of drink-driving. Figures show that annually, only one person for each of the 12,000 pubs in the country is arrested for driving offences. Even more strangely, only one quarter of that number are convicted. In any initiative to increase safety on our roads and to decrease road fatalities, inputs are directly related to outputs. If the Government does not channel resources into improving standards, the circle of low standards leading to high road death figures will continue.

However, as far as this Government is concerned, the message is that anything goes. While much legislation is in place regarding this matter, as well as in respect of law and order, it is not implemented. This is a serious fault on the part of the Government. More than 30% of drivers on our roads break speed limits and drink-driving is commonplace. In the past 12 months, more than 450 people have been killed on our roads. How many were underage or unqualified drivers, such as holders of provisional driving licences? The issue of unqualified drivers must be addressed.

A lame duck Government results in lame duck policies and when its lack of intervention and initiatives result in death, a change of direction and of Government should be sought. Our road death statistics are a crying indictment of poor Government and precious lives are being sacrificed on the altar of mismanagement. The carnage must stop and if the Government is not prepared to carry out its collective responsibility and do its job, it should leave office and give others the opportunity to take action to save lives on the roads.