Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for the work that he has been doing in this difficult area. It is easy to be around when the plaudits are handed out when the trends are going the right way. It is a much different job when the trends are going in the wrong direction and when one has to take decisive measures. One has to introduce a set of criteria that are aimed at trying to get drivers to change their behaviour and there will be push-back against that in principle. It is great and it sounds good but when one starts reducing speed limits, one starts handing over authority to those who may not want it in certain circumstances because they would prefer somebody else to make the tough decisions. I appreciate the work the Minister of State is doing. It will have a significant impact on deaths on the roads over the medium term. The overall apparatus we need to look at from a legislative point of view and a societal point of view is about changing behaviour. We can identify, as the Acting Chair rightly has, that the trend at the moment happens to be on rural roads among certain young people. However, that comes and goes. The truth of it is that it is about behaviour, respect for the road and respect for other road users. That should be implied in all legislative measures we bring through. I know there are people who will say that we do not need to reduce speed on the motorways and we do not need those check points where people are measured entering a particular zone, leaving and getting a fixed penalty notice at the end of it. If a person drives at significant speeds on the motorway, the likelihood is that when that person gets off the motorway, he or she will continue to drive well beyond the carrying capacity of the road. There needs to be an holistic approach from a legislative perspective and with regard to our education and re-education of drivers. We tend to put all the pressure and burden on young people. By and large, they respond well. They now have to go through a rigorous programme to pass their driver's test.

I like the idea about the drug and continued alcohol testing. There is information circulating that is anecdotal for sure but there seems to be a view now that younger people are starting to take risks again with drinking and driving. They are certainly doing it on the drugs side. That brilliantly was not the case for quite a number of years. There was a strong collegiate approach among young people. There was a designated driver. It was talked about, it was advertised and people had a condemnatory approach to anybody who drank and drove. My information from talking to people generally across the country is that is changing among young people. Kids are back chancing it again and we have to deal with it through information, education and campaigning. I wish the Minister of State well in the effort that is needed.

We also need to empower councillors more, not just in respect of speed limits but in putting in place traffic calming measures at certain areas. We know the black spots; they are well recognised. We need a programme of investment in black spots across the country and in general traffic calming measures anywhere close to rural residential areas that will help to change the behaviour. It is not always where the accident happens. It is about how a person goes about going from A to B, what they see and meet and what helps to frame their mindset for the rest of the day. If we research what works in other countries, we can turn the corner. However, it will not be easy because there is a significant growth in population and more people on the roads now than ever. We have a greater population of people from outside the country who are now driving and we are pushing tourism. All of these things play into the concerns that lead to accidents.