Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I accept that. It is like a goldfish bowl mentality. I would like to see the statistics for accidents on the motorways between Cork and Dublin and Dublin and Belfast. I appeal to the Minister that we should go back to enforcing the speed limits where we have the majority of road traffic accidents and fatalities, on the non-national roads of rural Ireland.

I ask the Minister what is the major cause of road accidents. Is it speed? Is it alcohol? Is it bad engineering? The three Es we were always told about, were engineering, education and enforcement. Our engineering, perhaps, in some cases with the camber of the roads, has left much to be desired and now we see with the decline of the quality of road surfaces that many of the roads are a contributory factor to accidents and to fatalities. There is also a issue regarding speed and education.

I very much welcome the significant decrease in the number of deaths on the roads. I pay tribute to Deputy Dempsey, the Road Safety Authority, Mr. Gay Byrne and whoever else because every one of us collectively wants to see a reduction in fatalities on roads. We may disagree on the methodology of how we get to that point but there is a uniformity of acceptance that we must never allow our roads to become a carnage zone.

PARC Road Safety Group has campaigned for many years for mandatory testing of all drivers. That is a good suggestion which I very much support. We need to go after the motorists who are under the influence of drugs as well, and there is a growing preponderance of that.

Anecdotally, a number of people have come to me, rightly or wrongly, regarding non-Irish licensees who drive on our roads being able to abscond from getting penalty points or being prosecuted. I do not say that in any racist way whatever. It must be made clear to all road users, be they Irish or non-Irish, that they are subject to the laws of the land and the law must apply to them.

As I stated at the beginning, Fine Gael is in favour of this Bill. The Minister and the Government have been late in coming forward with this Bill, which should have been here a long time ago. I would like to hear the Minister's reply regarding enforcement and the lack of enforcement on speed cameras.

This Bill must be a testimony and a legacy to the people who have died and to their families because we can never allow our roads to become a haven for carnage. The Minister will have our support. He will have my personal support. I have reservations about some of it, but the thrust of the Bill is to be welcomed and the principle is good. The Minister is correct to stand up to some of the vested interests which, perhaps, have been dominant for too long. The passage of this Bill is important. I look forward to fewer people dying on our roads.