Kenny highlights road safety

The Government had "fallen down completely" in dealing with the issue of road safety, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed yesterday.

The Mayo TD listed a number of Government promises that had not been implemented. He said that in 1998 the Government had promised to roll out speed cameras across the State in two years, but seven years later only three out of 20 speed cameras in the greater Dublin were in operation at any one time.

The Government promised to make 69 offences liable to penalty points by the end of 2003 but two years later only three had actually been implemented.

He claimed "the result of this inactivity and inability to cope by the Government is that unfortunately road deaths continue at a terrifyingly high rate" and 172 people had died this year.

The Government had also promised the immediate introduction in 2002 of a Garda traffic corps but the Government was only now intending to set it up and only 34 new gardaí had been recruited this year.

Tánaiste Mary Harney said, however, that although the numbers of fatalities on Irish roads were too high, they were much better than some years ago.

While acknowledging there were issues for Government, she pointed out that "there are challenges for us all in terms of our personal responsibility".