Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has promised a radical overhaul of the Irish driver licence system in light of the large numbers of young drivers involved in fatal collisions.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning Mr Cullen said he favoured a "graduated licencing" approach where newly qualified drivers would face additional restrictions.
"Clearly the ending of the testing backlog puts you in a position to bring in an entirely new licencing regime in Ireland," said Mr Cullen.
"It shouldn't be cheap to get a licence, it shouldn't be easy. There will have to be an element of professional training in it, and the response seems to be if people have to invest more into getting a licence they will treat it with far more respect and greater responsibility."
Rather than the current system of provisional licences Mr Cullen said he would favour a system for learner drivers similar to those that operate in other European countries.
"It is interesting that in other countries to get a licence you have to be tested in the four seasons - you test in wet weather conditions, day driving, night driving, icy conditions etc," said Mr Cullen. "When you get your licence you are a much more rounded driver in terms of what you can expect on the roads."
Mr Cullen rejected the suggestion that his proposals would discriminate against young drivers.
"You simply could not compare someone with 10 or 20 years' driving experience to somebody who had just got a licence at 19 or 20 years of age," he said.
Mr Cullen said that under the graduated licensing system new drivers would have to serve a probationary period for a number of years after they get their full licence. He also said he would consider increased penalty points for young drivers who break the law.
Labour Party transport spokeswoman Roisín Shortall today said she welcomed the Road Safety Authority proposals for restrictions on young and inexperienced drivers which were presented to the Minister this morning.
"There is a clear and obvious need to launch a campaign directly focused on new young drivers," said Ms Shortall.
"Typically, one in three drivers killed on our roads is under 25 years. This awful trend is even more pronounced in car passenger deaths - 52 per cent of car passengers killed on our roads have been under 25 years of age, and 45 per cent of motorcyclists killed on our roads are under 25 years."
Fine Gael's road safety spokesman, Shane McEntee, accused the Government of failing young drivers by refusing to implement effective road safety measures to stop the slaughter.
"The Government has shown an almost cavalier attitude to the slaughter of young people on our roads," said Mr McEntee. "We still don't have enough gardaí in the Traffic Corps . . . we still don't have a nationwide speed camera network, and the driving test backlog is ludicrous.
"Meanwhile, the Government still refuses to spend money on upgrading our non-national road network, while ignoring the fact that most fatal accidents happen on these roads."