I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate, however briefly. I agree with colleagues that the motor insurance rip-off has to end. I was calling for action on this issue 25 years ago and it is still going on. We have to increase competition. That is something we can do from an EU perspective. We also need measures to encourage better behaviour because, whether we like it or not, most accidents do involve younger drivers, especially male drivers. We need carrots and sticks. We need incentives. There was an interesting radio debate about Gen Z being influenced by incentives. We need incentives. If you do extra driving courses, you should get a reduction. If you are a fraudster or repeat offender of any age, you should have to pay, as other Deputies have said. You should not be let on the road in the first place if you continue with that. Many people have no choice but to drive, which costs them a lot of money, because we do not have the investment we need in public transport. That is clear in my constituency of Dublin Mid-West. It is clear around the country. One solution to reduce costs is to give more incentives to purchase and use electric vehicles. Unfortunately, the grants are not enough. You can get them quite cheaply second hand. I have driven one for nearly ten years now and it saves an absolute fortune. However, there are people in new estates who cannot get proper parking and who are not allowed to charge using cheap home rates. That needs to be looked at. M50 tolls need to be scrapped in areas where there is high congestion. In my constituency, there is a rat run down through Lucan and across the Liffey because of the toll heading towards Blanchardstown. On the carbon tax debate, the Government is not doing enough and some Opposition parties are using it as a populist tool. To be clear, it is not about the carbon tax in itself but about how you use it. If it is applied fairly, it incentivises good environmental behaviour. We are facing massive fines down the road.

Sentiment score: 0.19