Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I fully support the ambitious programmes laid out by the Road Safety Authority and the determined and direct fashion in which it is going about its mission. Enforcement of road safety legislation has always been an issue. Speed is the greatest killer and while I welcome initiatives in recent years such as the penalty points system and the traffic corps, which have made a contribution, I am concerned that enforcement of speed limits and penalty points is focused on revenue generation rather than on saving lives.

A number of Members referred to shooting fish in a barrel. I can recall many checkpoints on our dual carriageways and motorways. Senator Ellis mentioned the famous camera on the N4 but if one is caught on that camera, one should be brought in for a psychological assessment because everybody knows where it is positioned. The N4 is a quality road with many long straights which would allow for the landing of a jumbo jet while cars travelled on it and it is not a blackspot. Many deaths have occurred on the Sligo-Donegal road, including in recent weeks, because of the quality of the road. However, a police presence would discourage drivers from taking risks on a road that is not capable of taking cars driving within the speed limit, much less those driving in excess of it.

Garda enforcement should focus on blackspots rather than on good roads where drivers can be caught travelling at 105 km/h or 110 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. While they are breaking the law and deserve to be punished, in the context of preserving lives and dealing with accidents, it would be more appropriate to enforce speed limits on national primary and secondary roads of a lesser quality between 12 midnight and 8 a.m.

I acknowledge young people are not solely in danger but a disproportionate number of young men are involved in accidents and die. I am a relatively young person and I was no angel driving when I was younger. I am not proud of some of the risks I took. I was in a number of car accidents and was possibly lucky not to be killed. We must focus on the demographic age range most at risk and at the times of day when accidents are more likely to occur. I live on a main road in Sligo and I could point out to a garda every night the cars involved. They have been adjusted so that they are lower to the ground and they have wider tyres and louder exhausts, even though exhausts that exceed a specified decibel level are outlawed. There are other aspects of enforcement and if they were focused on, they would be effective. I am not launching an all-out attack on young people but they are the ones who, it appears, are most at risk and we must wake up to that fact.

I welcome the initiative regarding drivers with provisional licences in that the law will be enforced to the point where they will have to take their test. I am delighted the implementation of that initiative was extended as it makes better sense. There is no shame in admitting when a good suggestion was made to move forward matters that the timeframe was not right. I welcome the fact that we pushed forward the implementation of that initiative. We must ensure the resources are made available to allow us meet the reviewed deadline.

On roads, for example, improvements must be made to the N16, N15, parts of the N17 and the final parts of the N4. Those roads are in the north west where I come from. Those improvements must be made, and under Transport 21 I believe they will be. I would like, however, that to happen a little more quickly than the timeframe proposed under Transport 21 and I know the Minister of State will take on board those suggestions.

I suggested previously the installation of speed governors on cars. I realise that would be a draconian move but it should be examined. A speed governor with an upper speed of 50 mph should be mandatory on cars driven by motorists up to the age of 25. We could offer other incentives to appease people who might be annoyed about that initiative in terms of cheaper insurance or car tax or exemptions in that regard. That could be examined.

In regard to secondary schools, Professor Ray Fuller of the school of psychology in Trinity College stated yesterday that in terms of training he would propose some element of driver training in the secondary school curriculum. That is something that would be worthwhile and I ask the Minister of State to take on board that suggestion.

On the Order of Business this morning I mentioned an important event taking place in the north west and in Belfast over the next five days, namely, the world rally championship, known as Rally Ireland. I was disappointed to hear Senator Fitzgerald's contribution in that respect. I almost always agree with her well-thought out and positive contributions, but she questioned the Road Safety Authority's involvement in Rally Ireland. It is for initiatives such as this that we should salute the Road Safety Authority in the context of its involvement in Rally Ireland because people want to speed. As mentioned by Senator Doherty, I commend the people in north west Donegal who set up the stock car racing club, an excellent initiative. Rather than sticking its head in the sand, the Road Safety Authority realises that young people get a buzz from driving fast and like to be involved in racing sports and the like. The authority acknowledges that and it became involved in the world rally championship.

Those who travel to the north west this weekend will see billboards with the notice "Keep the race in its place" displayed. It is that initiative in which the Road Safety Authority has been involved and it is an excellent one. The message "Keep the race in its place" is pioneering in the context of the many other rounds of the world rally championship worldwide and Formula One.

As the event takes place throughout Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Belfast over the coming weekend, I appeal to the 150,000 spectators who will enjoy the activities to follow the instructions of the Garda and the marshals to ensure they, too, can keep the race in its place and be safe while monitoring the event.

It would be remiss of me not to say that I was delighted over the past five years to be associated with the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, and the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, on the political side in ensuring the Irish bid to host the world rally championship was successful. We beat many other countries. King Abdullah fronted the Jordan bid for it. We also beat Australia and South Africa. As the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, knows, we did not need King Abdullah because we had the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, and the Government backing us.