The Ceann Comhairle's predecessor used to extend a loquacious céad míle fáilte to all visitors from abroad in his own unique style.

One of the characteristics of the Government, now in its ninth year, has been consistently to break its promises. I want to ask the Taoiseach about road safety and the carnage on our roads. Does he recall the promise he made in 1998 to roll out speed cameras nationally within two years? Does he accept that seven years later only three cameras in 20 locations in the greater Dublin area are in operation at any one time? Does he recall the Government's commitment to have 69 penalty points offences in operation by the end of 2003? Does he realise that two years later, only three penalty points offences have been enacted? Does he accept that on average only one garda in major stations is trained in the use of breathalyser equipment?

The result of that failure is that road deaths continue to occur at a terrifyingly high level. This year 352 people have been killed on our roads, which is 21 more than at this time last year. I accept that behaviour on the roads is the responsibility of individuals. However, individual temperament is conditioned by a perception of whether they might get away with it. The National Safety Council has appealed to the Government to introduce random breath testing in an attempt to curb road deaths and speeding while under the influence of alcohol.

In the past week the Minister for Transport has pointed to legal difficulties with this proposal. In the same week the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who continually amends the criminal law, said that he had no difficulty with random drug testing for prisoners. Can the Taoiseach explain why the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform can say it is possible to introduce random drug testing without any difficulty and the Minister for Transport can say there are legal difficulties with introducing random breath testing?

I acknowledge that unfortunately the number of road deaths in 2004 increased to 370 compared with 335 in 2003 when the lowest number of road deaths in 40 years was recorded. The number of fatalities resulting from road collision this year is a major cause for concern. So far this year there has been an increase in the number of road deaths to 353 as of 21 November compared with 331 for the same period last year. A total of 26 people have lost their lives on our roads in the past 14 days. This is a serious matter and the numbers are not heartening to anybody.

While it does not give any great satisfaction to the matter, in the period since 1998 mentioned by the Deputy there has been an increase of 40% in the number of road vehicles, which is an enormous increase. There is disappointment that the impact of penalty points has waned in the period since they were first introduced. However, if we did not have penalty points, the situation would be worse again. We will move to reinforce the penalty points regime by expanding it to cover more traffic offences. The important message is that on road safety it is not possible to argue with the facts. The facts show that 86% of deaths on the roads are caused by driver error with speeding the main killer. This has changed over the years from when it was drink driving, but people must show their part in it.

We now have a dedicated road safety strategy. We have introduced penalty points for speeding, not wearing seat belts, not having insurance and careless driving. This is being rolled out. As the Deputy knows, it is based on the full implementation of the technology system. Admittedly, we have had a few false starts on that. It is meant to be running by next spring.

More than a few.

We have established a dedicated traffic corps, headed by an assistant commissioner, and invested in a huge roads programme. The Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill will lead to a fully resourced body for driver testing and training. The adoption of changes in the circumstances of random breath testing, where the driver of a vehicle can be made the subject of preliminary roadside breath testing, has been the subject of considerable debate and consideration. The road safety regulations will be amended to deal with those issues, which have now been finalised.

The Taoiseach did not answer the question. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said there is no problem with mandatory drug testing for prisoners, but the Minister for Transport said there are legal impediments to mandatory breath testing. Will the Taoiseach explain what they are? Will this issue be dealt with in the amendments to the regulations he mentioned? Does he intend to introduce mandatory breath testing and, if so, when?

What has the Minister for Transport done about the backlog of 100,000 young drivers waiting for driving tests? The wait is costing them €50 million a year extra in increased insurance. Nothing has been done about the banning of mobile phones while driving. I have seen many drivers on their phones while driving in town centres, some of them truck drivers, and they do not seem to have hands-free sets. Nothing has been done about basic training for motorcyclists. Only 34 extra gardaí have been allocated for traffic corps duties this year and the corps is not a dedicated unit but is used for other purposes. We have the second worst record in Europe for drink driving checks.

Tackling road safety needs strong political will and leadership. President Chirac of France has taken a personal initiative in this regard and road deaths there have reduced because of the perception of individual drivers that the state is taking a real interest in seeing that drivers drive safely. As Ministers do not appear to be prepared to do so, is the Taoiseach prepared to take a personal initiative and lead this charge so that we will not have tragic and unfortunate circumstances weekend after weekend on Irish roads?

Based on the figures I provided, this issue is a major problem. I do not want to say anything that takes away from that. I and all my Cabinet colleagues have spent an extraordinary amount of time recently trying to resolve some of the issues, for example, the PULSE system and the extension of the penalty points system to more areas. The traffic corps is a dedicated group. The Minister has given the figures in the corps for this year and next year. An assistant commissioner now has charge of the corps, with no other responsibility.

The Deputy asked about random breath testing, and that will be reflected in the changes. There are difficulties concerning how it is legally dealt with, but both the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Minister for Transport have been meeting to resolve the issue and bring it forward in the road testing legislation. They believe a resolution can be found. There are legal issues with the current practice, which I find quite extraordinary. What can be done at night time cannot be done in daytime. I do not believe this stands up, but that is current practice. Gardaí have powers to do things in the evening that they cannot do in daytime. If somebody is drink driving, there should be no difference in applying the rules and the Ministers are trying to resolve these issues.

A campaign announced today will cover issues associated with the Christmas period such as drink driving. Unfortunately, I know the public is upset at times when there is more stringent enforcement of the law through more check points and breath tests etc., but I see no alternative. We cannot allow a situation continue where hundreds of people, more than one a day, die. Although people feel abused and do not like the checks, there is no alternative except to take tough action, and that is the way the Cabinet is proceeding.