The publication this morning of the Road Traffic Bill 2009 must be welcomed. A fully informed debate about Minister Dempsey’s new road traffic measures has been impeded by the Minister’s ongoing failure to publish the legislation. A significant reduction has been achieved in road deaths and serious injuries this year. But it remains completely unacceptable that over 200 people will still more than likely die on Irish roads in 2009.

All of the focus on this bill has surrounded the proposed reduction in the general blood alcohol level from 80mg to 50mg and to 20mg for professional and novice drivers. However, there are many other measures provided for in the Road Traffic Bill which have been completely overshadowed but are critical for enhancing road safety and achieving much needed further reductions in road deaths.

In particular the introduction of mandatory alcohol testing of drivers involved in road collisions and impairment testing procedures for targeting drug drivers have been long overdue. Ms. Susan Gray and her national road safety organisation PARC in Donegal has led a long campaign for the introduction of these critical measures which Labour has supported. However, the published bill seems to refer to preliminary impairment testing for drug driving. Given the growing problem of drug driving further invigilation of this measure is necessary at the Dail’s second and committee stage to make sure that the strongest anti-drug driving measures possible are in place.

I also greatly welcome the provisions within the bill which allow penalty points and disqualifications to be applied to motorists with foreign driving licenses. The Labour Party has long campaigned for the closure of these loopholes which have been undermining the whole penalty point system.

The Road Safety Authority has provided very strong evidence from a range of international experience including the Australian states that the reduction in the drink driving limit will save lives on our roads. This move will also bring us into line with all of our EU partner states excluding the UK and Malta. However, I also welcome the fact that the Minister has provided for a penalty points endorsement and fixed penalty charge for drivers found between the 50mg and 80mg limit.

Many people living in rural communities have genuine concerns that a reduced drink driving limit may further contribute to rural isolation and social exclusion especially for seniors who live alone and other vulnerable citizens. It is now incumbent upon the Minister and all of his Fianna Fail colleagues who expressed concern about the impact on rural communities to fully maintain the Rural Transport Programme and to address the massive deficit in public transport services in rural areas. Minister Dempsey needs to give a firm commitment that the relatively low funding allocation of just €10 million per annum for the Rural Transport Programme will be maintained in Budget 2010.

It is clear that the introduction of new road traffic legislation is meaningless if Ministers Dempsey and Ahern are not prepared to provide proper levels of enforcement and ensure that the Garda Traffic Corps has been staffed to its 1200 personnel target. Finally, Ministers Dempsey and Ahern must also now ensure that the national speed camera programme is rolled out without any further delays.