Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have listened very much to what Senator Moloney has said. I take her point that 6% of road accidents involve those with L plates are in the learner driver category. To really understand that figure further, we would have to look at the share of learner drivers as a percentage of the total driving population and to compare that with the figure of 6% of learner drivers who are involved in accidents to arrive at a ratio that will show whether they contribute proportionately or disproportionately to the number of accidents on our roads. Other figures I have seen give me food for thought and lead me to think this is the right course of action. In 2013, 26% of car drivers who were killed were under the age of 25 years. If I consider how we focused on that issue in the past, for example in 2012, the figure was 30%, so in that two year period between 26% and 30% of deaths on our road were of men and women under the age of 25 years. Half of all the drivers killed at present range from 16 years to 35 years.

These are the statistics that lead me to believe that the change in this measure was correct. As I have said already it was always an offence for a learner driver to drive unaccompanied, but as the Senator said, the recent change was that penalty points were applied to the offence. I have to be unambiguous, I believe this is the correct course of action to look after a young group of drivers across the country. I fully appreciate the fact that it has different consequences for people who are living in rural areas as opposed to those who live in urban areas. We will keep all of these measures under review. I do not want to signal this measure out in particular because I do not want to weaken our commitment to the implementation of it in any way. I will certainly look at this measure as I will look at the other recent changes and look at the impact it is having on road safety and any consequences it could have.