Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

From some of the amendments it seems that the telephone must be in a cradle. When the members of the Joint Committee on Transport went to Australia, the transport committee members in Sydney told us it had done much research on hands-free and hand-held telephones and found no significant difference between them. Deputy Olivia Mitchell had a Bill in the Dáil on this and she thinks all mobile telephones are a distraction. I do not doubt this. They are probably the most serious distraction. The amendments do not mention the new navigation systems. Are they covered by any of the amendments? I expect there will soon be televisions in cars to add to the distractions. There is no doubt that when one is on the telephone in the car, one's mind is distracted from driving. Before we had mobile telephones one would often forget whether one had gone through a particular town, especially on long journeys. I wonder if being on the telephone affects the incidence of those blank spots, which would occur anyway. In Sydney they found little difference between hands-free and hand-held telephones. As there is no prohibition on the Bluetooth system, one can keep the mobile telephone on the seat of the car, not necessarily in the cradle, while wearing one's headgear. I welcome the Minister's amendments. Can navigation systems be controlled under legislation or would it require further legislation? Do they need to be brought to the same level as mobile telephones?