Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Does the Leader accept that many accidents occur late at night or early in the morning and involve speeding by young drivers and, in some instances, substance abuse by them as well? Will he put this to the Ministers concerned? That is the difficulty that needs to be examined together with the introduction of speed cameras. There also should be a reduced focus on built-up areas at the entrance to towns. A sensible approach is required to what is a grave national crisis. The Leader should concede the debate and should approach the Government in this regard.

I ask the Leader for a full response by way of debate and ministerial intervention to the anticipated loss of 65,000 jobs in the construction industry, which equates to one quarter of the workforce in the sector. Senator John Paul Phelan is correct that those affected must be upskilled immediately. They should not be left in unemployment and the largest possible number should be redeployed to a school building programme. The focus in education in recent years has been on building up the number of teaching staff in the learning support area while school buildings have been neglected. Those who are made redundant in the construction sector should be upskilled and redeployed to build proper school buildings throughout the country. They should not be left unemployed indefinitely at great cost to themselves and the State.