Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The Minister of State answered a number of points Senator Paddy Burke has raised, particularly on driver testing. If the Minister of State had lost the last vote or accepted the amendment, I might have been willing to go this way. I would like to hold the Minister responsible but because the last amendment was not accepted, we would have difficulty holding the Minister responsible for some of these areas.

I do not support the amendment, although I understand the worthy intention behind it, because I do not want the road safety authority to be distracted in any way from the focus on road safety. Some of the areas being added, such as the registration of vehicles and retention of data pertaining to the ownership of vehicles, are not road safety issues. Maintenance of the national driver file is not pertinent solely to road safety. The maintenance of road signage and markings is an important area of road safety but it should not be the responsibility of this body. The Senator's heart is in the right place but I would prefer to see the road safety authority focused on road safety and not distracted by anything else.