Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael)

The title of the debate is indicative of the professional approach that underpins the policy formulation of the new Government. As the Minister of State has said, "joined up government needs joined up data".

I agree with the previous speakers who all stated that statistics must be used in delivering Government policy. Too often in the past decade, decisions were made based on back-of-an-envelope planning to facilitate jobs for the boys or for political gain. We are paying the price now for that approach or attitude to public policy and planning, most notably with the serious problems with the oversupply of housing in many counties and the spectre of so-called ghost estates.

Statistics are one vital aspect of public policy formulation. I commend the Central Statistics Office on its invaluable work in providing statistical information on a range of matters of public importance. The work of the CSO is a vital aid to legislators such as ourselves. Politicians are fond of referring to anecdotal evidence, meaning the feedback we get from people on the ground, and it is always helpful when the CSO comes up with a finding that confirms that anecdotal evidence and gives it greater legitimacy.

As the Fine Gael spokesperson on transport, I am particularly interested in the role of statistics in formulating transport policy. Recently, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, came to the Upper House to debate the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill. In his Second Stage speech, the Minister referred to a number of statistics and translated the impact of legislative change in the road safety area in a statistical analysis. For example, he told us that in 1972 there were 640 deaths on Irish roads equating to more than 50 deaths per month. He then referred to a number of significant pieces of legislation in the area of road safety, particularly in the area of drink driving and penalty points, and noted that in the period coinciding with the raft of road safety legislation, 2001 to 2010, the number of fatalities on Irish roads fell by 48%. However, the statistics used by the Minister only present part of the story and the statistics alone are not enough. They need to be supplemented. For example, a large range of factors are likely to have contributed to the fall in road deaths, including safer cars, better roads, changes to the driving test, etc., and it is always important to use statistics in conjunction with other research when formulating public policy.

None the less, in some cases the figures can speak for themselves. The number of persons using a particular train at a particular time, for example, makes clear the need to increase or reduce the service. The number of accidents at a particular accident blackspot makes clear the need to improve the safety of the road at that location. Deputy Varadkar is facing into many difficult decisions in the budget and I am sure that statistical information can help identify priority areas but, equally, I hope the statistics will not be the only factor at play.