Three people died on Irish roads over the weekend in separate incidents, bringing the death toll so far this year to 239. This is 18 more than at this stage last year.
All three deaths occurred between 9 p.m. on Saturday and 4 a.m. on Sunday.
The first incident was at Knockaconny, Monaghan, on the main Monaghan-Armagh road just before 10 p.m. on Saturday when a motorcycle left the road. Mr Martin Treanor (24), from Glaslough, Co Monaghan, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 19-year-old woman was killed when the van in which she was a passenger struck a bullock at Barntick, Clarecastle, Co Clare, at 10.30 p.m. on Saturday.
In Co Sligo, a young woman died when her car left the road early yesterday morning at Creggconnell, Rosses Point. Ms Melissa McManus (20), of Sea Park View, Strandhill, Co Sligo, died after the car she was driving struck a ditch. A female passenger sustained minor injuries.
The three deaths mean that more than 45 per cent of road deaths in Ireland this year have involved people under 30, according to Garda figures.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said that in the 21 months since penalty points were introduced there were 113 fewer deaths than in the previous 21 months.
Mr Brennan said he expected a report on whether or not toxicology studies should be conducted on road accident victims to be completed within the next month.
The Medical Bureau of Road Safety and Forensic Medicine in University College Dublin is compiling the report at the Minister's request.
"The Minister is fully committed to tacking the problem and is determined to eradicate such loss of life," the spokeswoman said.
"The success of the penalty points system is dependent on a change of attitude by everyone, not just the Government and the Garda. The driving public must also embrace the change for the issue of road deaths to be dealt with successfully," she said.
Fine Gael's spokesman on transport, Mr Denis Naughten, accused Mr Brennan of "not having a clue" about how to deal with the number of deaths on Irish roads.
"Ireland is the only country in Europe where detailed statistics on road deaths are not available. It is hypocritical in the extreme that we have no proper statistics on what role alcohol or drugs play in road accidents," the Fine Gael spokesman said.
Mr Naughten said that if Ireland was in line with other European countries, alcohol would have been a factor in up to 40 per cent of all fatal road accidents.
"There needs to be a complete rethink on how people are tested. If we had more stringent testing procedures, we would see a reduction in the numbers of deaths," he said.