asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state the cause of the delay in introducing road traffic legislation.
24.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Road Traffic Legislation.
23.
asked the Minister for Local Government whether it is proposed to introduce legislation to amend the Road Traffic Acts; and, if so, when.
I propose, with the permission of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 together.
This matter has been under consideration by successive Ministers for Local Government. The current proposals are at present the subject of consultation with the other Departments concerned. When that procedure is completed, it is hoped to have an approved scheme of legislation circulated without delay.
Could the Minister give any indication as to when he will be in a position to introduce legislation?
As I indicated to the House on several occasions during the past 12 months, I should not like to tie myself or my Department in this matter over which we ourselves have not full control. I am still reluctant to tie it to a time but I can assure the Deputy and the House that my wish to get this circulated is just as keen as anybody else's. I should be glad if it were circulated.
The Taoiseach, on the introduction of the Estimate for the Department of Local Government in 1956, thought fit to intervene and beg the then Minister to introduce such legislation and explained how urgent the matter was. I gave him an undertaking that such legislation would be drafted forthwith. That was done. I am afraid the Minister is not bound in any way to that particular draft.
Does the Minister realise that he has now had more than 2½ years in his present office to implement the specific promise of his Party that the matter would be dealt with at once?
As a matter of correction, I have not yet spent 2½ years in the Department. In the second place, might I point out to the Deputy that it is, I think, 16 years since the investigations were first started by Deputy Childers, then Parliamentary Secretary? It was from the investigations commenced by him as Parliamentary Secretary in the Department in 1943 that the need for a general revision of these matters was really brought to a head. That was more or less completed during his term between 1943 and 1948. From 1949 to 1953, apparently there was quite an amount of work, not to mention a number of changes taking place within the Department and outside of it—all of which apparently tended to obscure this issue to some degree, to the extent that it had not then seen the light. At the later date which Deputy O'Donnell mentioned, it is true that during the second term of the Coalition Government in 1956, apparently a final drafting was gone on with but the Dáil dissolved before those final draftings really became anything more than final drafts. The result then is that during my time in the Department of Local Government, naturally as the time was passed other views may have emerged in regard to the changing circumstances and the further informations available to us under these road traffic heads. It has not been an easy matter to get final proposals in my own or the Department's mind. We have reached that stage. We are now awaiting, as I said in my reply, the comments and suggestions of other Departments concerned.
Is it not true that there was a final draft there—final decisions had been taken—by the previous Government which was available when the Minister took office more than 2½ years ago? Surely the Minister considers that 2½ years is a reasonable time for this Government to produce a Bill to the House?
The Deputy is rather at pains to indicate that these past two and a half years should have been sufficient for the present occupant to get on with this, whereas it would seem to indicate that three years and a further three years during which the Deputy was in Government as a Minister was not sufficient to get beyond the final draft?
All the work was done for the Minister's Government. They have done nothing.
Apart from responsibility for the delay in introducing legislation, does the Minister know of anything more calculated to bring Parliament and democracy into disrepute than to tell the House and the country generally that this thing is under consideration for the past 16 years when people are being killed and maimed on the streets every day? Would the Minister now, if he cannot take decisions on a comprehensive Bill, at least give us some road traffic legislation by instalments so that we can deal with the worst aspects of the problem?
Would the Minister be prepared to introduce part of this legislation or the whole of it within a year? Twelve months ago, in reply to a question of mine, he assured me that he would introduce it early in the present year.
I stated, in fact, in January of this year that I hoped to have proposals circulated during this year. This year is still with us.