Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I admire the Senator's optimism about our ability to think outside the box. Senator Bacik was heckled yesterday when she made a reasonably intellectual argument on mandatory drug testing. I, too, would like a debate on this issue to determine whether the Senators who heckled will have a thoughtful contribution to make.

I hope the House will express outrage about an issue in which the Leader has taken a special interest, namely, uninsured drivers. I will relate a simple story. It is now widespread practice to have one's car taxed on-line. To do so, one must fill out an application on the www.cartax.ie website. An applicant may enter any insurance policy number he or she wishes. In other words, by facilitating a system which allows people to obtain a tax disc without insurance or a national car test, we are putting dangerous vehicles and uninsured drivers on the road every day. I raised this issue last year and the Leader discussed it during his time as Chairman of the Committee on Enterprise and Small Business. Having understood that the issue was being addressed, I am outraged to learn that uninsured drivers of unsafe vehicles continue to have their cars taxed.

When one hears of road traffic accidents and collisions, one often wonders about the roadworthiness of the cars involved, if their brakes were functioning properly and so forth. Questions are often asked about accountability. Someone should be brought to book for allowing the outrageous practice by which drivers of unsafe vehicles log on to a website to obtain a road tax certificate to continue. Rectifying the problem is a simple, technical matter. I want two steps to be taken. The Minister for Transport should explain immediately when he will address the issue and every single on-line taxation transaction undertaken in the past year should be reviewed to determine how many of the drivers in question entered false insurance numbers. Every insurance company has a databank it can use to generate the relevant information in seconds. All that is required is to have two technologies communicate with each other. It is outrageous that this practice is allowed to continue.

On a related issue, for almost ten years I have been calling for the introduction of credit card type driving licences. I made this request time and again when Senator Callely was Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for traffic. On each occasion, he assured me the European Union was working on the issue and I pointed out that, having taken 29 years to decide on the colour of our passports, I dreaded to think how long the European Union would take to introduce credit card sized driving licences. Ireland should proceed immediately to introduce such licences and adapt them, if necessary, should the European Union legislate on the matter. If we carry a driving licence at all times, as required by law, it will fall apart within months because the current licences are not suitable for this purpose. This is a simple matter which should be addressed in a technologically advanced society.