A SEPARATE written theoretical test for all new drivers seeking licences is to be introduced later in the year in line with an EU directive, the Minister for the Environment revealed.
Mr Howlin expressed "grave concern" about the rising number of road traffic accidents, adding that the trend must be viewed against the backdrop of a significant increase in kilometres travelled and in the number of registered vehicles on the roads.
"But that offers no consolation to those involved in road accidents and their friends and families," he said. "Every death, every injury, every accident is one too many.
He said enforcement of the road traffic laws had to be a very major part of the response, and he was very heartened by the increased enforcement by unmarked Garda vehicles. There had been an increase in the number of on the spot fines.
The problem about enforcement was that many accidents occurred late at night or early in the morning, and it was hard to have a comprehensive enforcement regime on every road 24 hours a day. He added that he had appointed a new chairman of the National Safety Council and had specifically instructed him to make road safety a priority and to utilise methods used internationally that could be applied in Ireland.
Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central) said 24 people had been killed on Irish roads last week. "If that number of people had been killed as a result of terrorist activity, there would be universal and international outrage. And yet, when they are killed on our roads there is scarcely a whimper."
Last year, she added, 456 people had been killed in road accidents, which was about the equivalent of the population of an average town in provincial Ireland. Whatever the extent of the measures put in place, they were not achieving the desired result, and there was a need for a monitoring body to assess the impact of the measures being taken.
Mr Howlin agreed that it was a "horrendous toll."
Ms Quill said a national training programme for motorcyclists should be considered, adding that such a scheme had been found to be effective in reducing fatal accidents in Britain.