Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, back to the House and congratulate him on his reappointment.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 in the names of Senators Boylan, Gavan and Warfield are out of order as they involve a charge on the Revenue. Amendment No. 3 is in the names of Senators Boylan, Gavan and Warfield but they are not here to move it. Amendment No. 4 in the names of Senators Boylan, Gavan and Warfield is out of order as it is in conflict with the principle of the Bill.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I would not, really.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator can speak on section 22. That is what we are dealing with.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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The Senator can speak to section 22, if she likes.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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It is not a Second Stage debate.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I will allow-----

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When the Bill has concluded, I will let the Senator make concluding remarks if she likes.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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At the discretion of the Chair.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I have probably had a record faster, but anyway.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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We will finish the business, unless the Senator wants to speak to section 22.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Would the Minister of State like to make brief concluding remarks? I thank all Members for their co-operation and I will allow any Member who wants to make a brief concluding remark on the Bill to do so.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson. I thank the House, and particularly everyone who has contributed to the debate over the past while and during earlier Stages, for the passage of this Bill. It is, as Senators will be aware, a short and focused Bill to address the worrying trend we have been witnessing on our roads. After the worst year on our roads in almost a decade in 2023, sadly we are currently on trend for a significantly worse year in 2024 and systemic action to turn this trend around is urgently needed. To bring about this change, the Bill targets three priority areas relevant to driver behaviour: increased sanctions through penalty point reform; mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions to help tackling the growing issue of drug-driving; and the introduction of safer default speed limits.

With regard to speed limits, with the enactment of this Bill, I will be engaging with local authorities to move quickly and in a co-ordinated fashion to conduct their own speed limit reviews, and following that speed limit by-laws in accordance with the devolved powers that councillors have such as the new speed limit framework being implemented then.

As I said in the past, it is a much-needed Bill. Road safety impacts everyone on this island and a strong response is needed now. I thank all colleagues for their co-operation in both Houses for the quick passage of this Bill. Once it is signed into law, we will focus our attention on the important business of implementing the Bill's various provisions. I, again, thank everyone.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Before I bring in anyone else, and while I am in the Chair, I would like to say that I am also the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. I am aware of the work the Minister of State, and, indeed, that committee has put in dealing with this matter. It is a matter of huge concern to the wider public. Certainly to anyone involved in road safety, the figures are going in the wrong direction.

The four most common criteria are young people, at night and weekends, rural roads and speeding. It is important that we hammer that point home to everybody. Motorway detection and vigilance is important but most of the road deaths unfortunately are happening on rural roads, at night, at weekends and involving young people. We need to keep reinforcing that point.

I thank the Minister of State and everyone in the Road Safety Authority, in the Department and in wider civic society and the Garda, who are contributing in any way they can to reducing road deaths and, indeed, injuries because life-changing injuries happen as well in road accidents and can be incredibly traumatic for both the people involved and their families.

I will call Senator Keogan first. Then I will bring in Senators Dooley and Joe O'Reilly-----

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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-----but this is not a Second Stage debate.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I gave the Senator as much discretion as I could.

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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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.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I am probably giving a bit more discretion than I normally would, possibly because I am the Chair of the transport committee. It is an issue I am very concerned about. Equally, it is because we did the topic quickly. I invite Senator O’Reilly to speak as briefly as he can.

Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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It is obvious that the Acting Chair has a personal interest from his very informed comments as well.

I welcome the Minister of State. I also welcome his proactivity in this area and the fact he is very committed to it. His professional background as a doctor can only suggest that not only are the fatalities a horror for families but some people are left with life-long injuries that are a horror, life-changing in a detrimental way and detrimentally changing for whole families. It is a serious matter.

My colleague went through this very comprehensively and I will just go over one or two issues quickly. Obviously, alcohol is the old chestnut and there is no avoiding that. We must be rigorous in this regard. To paraphrase Senator Dooley, there is a lot of evidence from many sources that drug-driving is prevalent. Drug testing on a regular basis is crucial. There would be an assumption that drug testing was not taking place so that people would feel more comfortable. From my understanding, the effect of drugs can last for a number of days and weeks after intake in some instances, depending on the substance. That is a critical matter that needs addressing.

The Acting Chair’s point about the country roads is true. The road issue is exacerbated by weather and so on. That is a problem in country areas. Senator Dooley made the point about the black spots, coming into the black spots and driver behaviour.

I do not have the personal expertise to make valuable proposals to the Minister of State. However, as a public representative and as someone living in the community who meets and listens to people on a daily basis, I know this needs tackling and there is horror around it. There is an expectation from Government that we do something. I am confident that when the Minister of State takes something in hand, he addresses it. I am pleased that the Taoiseach listed it in his priorities on his assumption of office. That should only support the Minister of State’s work.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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To conclude again on this, it is a very important topic. I thank the Minister of State and his officials for their personal commitment to it. Let us make sure and hope that what we passed here and what was passed in the Dáil makes a difference in terms of the many affected families and those that may not be affected in a way they may otherwise have been because of the measures we are taking here today. Technology has a big part to play in the longer term. Everybody’s car is capable of being tracked, everybody’s phone is tracking them, we know what speed everybody is going at and so on. If people knew that every bit of behaviour was being tracked, perhaps some of them would behave a bit better, as other Senators outlined. I thank everybody for their co-operation. I thank the Minister of State again.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to sit again?

Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)
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Next Tuesday at 1 p.m.