Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I cannot say the same about the Minister, Deputy Dempsey. During his tenure as Minister we have seen too many problems. As referred to earlier, we have seen the disaster of the privatisation of Aer Lingus and the impact that has had on the Shannon region. There was the debacle a few weeks ago of the change in licensing regulations affecting those on provisional licences. Now we hear there are doubts whether the projects under Transport 21 will see the light of day on their scheduled completion date. The Minister's reward for his mismanagement in these areas is that he is about to be given even more work, that of responsibility for overseeing our non-national roads and the national vehicle driver file.

Non-national roads carry the majority of traffic and hence the accident rate on those roads is higher than on motorways. The Minister, Deputy Dempsey, said in the Dáil that he would like to see a dramatic improvement in accident rates. The problem is that the proposed budget cuts for non-national roads means that for a start he will have to fight to improve road safety with a lower budget. Road surfacing is probably not an issue of concern for the Minister, Deputy Gormley. I am sure the road surfaces and the signage around Irishtown and Sandymount are fine, but if the Minister were to come to County Meath, he would note that the road surfaces around Mornington, with which he is familiar, and elsewhere throughout the county require additional funds to ensure they meet safety standards. However, the money to provide for such works is not available. County councils are not being allocated the necessary funds.

The lack of signage is also a problem at junctions. On approaching a junction a motorist does know whether to turn left or right or continue straight to reach his or her destination, which in some ways is like how the current Minister responsible is acting. It will be problematic for the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, to have to deal with the non-national roads given the budget cutbacks and his aim to try to improve road safety.

I also want to deal with the national vehicle driver file and the points made by some people that currently it is not fit for its purpose. It remains hard to track penalty points. The lifespan of cars on our roads is also an issue. A survey conducted recently by an insurer showed that of the 5,000 cars it has recorded on its books as written off, 1,350 of them do not appear on the national vehicle driver file. These cars could still be on the road. I am concerned whether the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, will have the ability to tackle such issues. We have seen in the past that when it comes to reviewing the way projects work, such as PPARS, his view of the €150 million wasted on that system was that it was just a drop in the ocean, a small amount of cash. I would be concerned about his ability to redesign the national vehicle driver file if that were required.

Switching responsibility for the reform and management of these areas to the Department of Transport may on the face of it be a technical issue designed to solve problems but I would be concerned that this would not be the case. It is important that the management of these two vital areas remain under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Gormley, and his Department. I am concerned that the transfer of responsibility for them to Minister, Deputy Dempsey, and his Department will put more work on a Department and a Minister that are already stretched to the limit of their abilities.