The failure of the Government to implement important elements of its Road Safety Strategy has been deeply disappointing. In spite of a horrifyingly high level of road deaths - and research that showed investment in road safety would be cost-effective - the Department of Finance and the Department of Justice appear to be at loggerheads over the provision of a new Garda computer system.
The investment was at the heart of a penalty-points system for motoring offences, which was promised by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey three years ago.
Because of such penny-pinching, disagreement and procrastination, the Government is unlikely to meet the main target of its five-year road safety plan, which was to reduce the number of road deaths below 378 by the end of this year. Yesterday, the chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr Eddie Shaw, said it was a matter of "profound personal regret" that the Department of Justice had not been convinced of the need to invest in such modern technology.
His comments followed reports that the Department of Finance was prepared to advance only €1 m - rather than the € 11m sought by the Department of Justice - for a new Garda computer system that would link with the Department of the Environment data base.
Some progress was made at Cabinet yesterday when, following representations by Mr Dempsey, Ministers agreed to provide funding of €4m for a pilot project by the end of the year, with the money being raised through savings in a number of Departments. It is expected to take at least two years for the computer-based, penalty-points system to be fully operational, depending on fiscal circumstances. In the meantime, the Road Traffic Bill is expected to pass into law before the general election.
The shambles surrounding plans for a penalty- points system is replicated elsewhere. The Government's road-safety strategy had envisaged the widespread use of traffic cameras to detect speeding offences, the introduction of random breath testing and a far more active role for the Garda as traffic police. Three years on and the reality is that half-a-dozen speed cameras monitor traffic on the outskirts of Dublin; the notion of random breath testing has been abandoned and our roads have never been more dangerous. Some 68 people have already been killed this year.
The opposition parties have accused the Government of abject failure in its attempts to halt carnage on the roads. And the National Safety Council estimated that about 200 lives could be saved each year if traffic laws were properly enforced and new penalty systems introduced. The rules of the road are flouted to an outrageous extent by motorists. Large numbers of citizens not only drink and drive, but they consistently break speed limits and fail to wear seat-belts. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that there is little, consistent, policing.
Special anti-drink driving and speeding campaigns by the Garda during holiday periods are not enough. The Government must do better.