Seanad debates

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

1:00 pm

Photo of Sean BarrettSean Barrett (Independent)

I join the Members of the House in thanking the Minister. This is a major issue. In the period prior to our being given the number of road deaths, I believe 600 people used to be killed on our roads in the decade before that. It is a success story to reduce the number of road deaths below 200. That is an achievement by everybody concerned. As Senator O'Sullivan said, there were lobbies that fought this and I am glad they were resisted.

The lifespan of the current road safety strategy that covered the time of the former Ministers, Martin Cullen and Noel Dempsey, ends in 2012. It has been a huge success. We have many other elements when we come to tackle this problem to draw up the next one. I thank the Minister for speaking of his experience in accident and emergency departments and should he wish to return to the House as he prepares the next strategy for the next shot at this problem, he will be most welcome.

I would like to examine other issues, including the problem in regard to cross-Border driving in counties Donegal and Cavan, which was mentioned on Second Stage. Men under 35 years of age are still a major casualty group. What can be said about that? There is also the lack of seatbelt use. Could speed cameras tell us if mobile phones are being used? People using mobile phones are a major source of complaint and our sanctions for that have not been a success. However, that is all for the next strategy after 2012. I welcome what the Minister has done here today. He is aware of the co-operation he will receive from the House and he will be very welcome on the next occasion.

Ireland has the second or third lowest accident rate in the OECD countries. That is a huge success for all the people involved, despite the strange lobbying I used to encounter on the National Economic and Social Council where there was strong opposition from rural groups. There is more in rural Ireland than rural publicans but they certainly raised a lobby. Any activity that requires the deaths of so many people must be closely regulated. I commend the Minister for all his initiatives in that regard.

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