Every Member of the House supported the Government's proposal to introduce penalty points, a system that would effectively save lives. This morning we had the unedifying spectacle of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell criticising both his predecessors, Deputies Dempsey and O'Donoghue. The Minister said that when he came into office the proposals for the penalty points system had still not been acted upon and that the failure to implement this system was a tragedy. Will the Tánaiste bring before the next meeting of the Cabinet proposals to sort this out and provide the necessary resources so that this scheme can be fully computerised, implemented effectively and thereby save lives?

In the first instance, the Minister was not critical of any of his predecessors in this regard.

He certainly was, and rightly so.

It was the last Government that provided the resources for computerisation and it is regrettable that it is taking so long. I understand that computerisation will not be completed for almost another year. However, in advance of computerisation, the Government has proceeded to introduce the penalty points system on a manual basis. That is important. Lives have been saved. Lives are being saved.

Lives have been lost as well.

It is very important that members of the Garda Síochána at all levels co-operate and enforce the policy. It is not a matter for representative bodies to decide not to enforce the law. The law must be enforced. This is about life and death. It is about safety. That is why we have proceeded.

This morning the Minister for Transport will announce his planned extension of the penalty points system and also the campaign to be launched this weekend. Easter weekend is a particularly dangerous weekend on the roads. There is a great deal of travel and, unfortunately, we have had too many tragedies in the past. There will be a special campaign in place this weekend, details of which the Minister for Transport will announce shortly.