Dáil Sketch/Frank McNally: With another bank holiday weekend looming, the issue of road safety was suddenly back on the agenda yesterday.
It appeared out of nowhere, like one of those 500cc motorbikes that Enda Kenny has been noticing a lot more of lately (after they pass him out).
"It's impossible for motorists to see them coming from behind, given that they're travelling at speeds of well over 100 miles an hour," he lamented. But the way Enda told it, motorists could safely concentrate on what was behind them, in the knowledge that they didn't have to worry about Garda checkpoints and speed cameras in front.
During an estimated "1,000 kilometres" of road travel last week, the Fine Gael leader had met only one checkpoint, he said. Now he'd learned that nine of the State's 20 speed-camera boxes were out of action, and that repairing them would take "between two and eight months".
The Taoiseach shared his incredulity that it required so long to repair what Mr Kenny called "a wooden box on top of a pole". But when Mr Ahern protested: "I hope I'm not being held responsible for that", Bernard Allen pulled him over and wrote a ticket. "You are being held responsible," snapped the Corkman, causing the indignant Taoiseach to mutter: "I'll do a Fás course and find out how to fix speed cameras."
Yesterday was day two of the Ceann Comhairle's crackdown on the abuse of Leaders' Questions, and in particular of the strict time-limits supposed to apply to them. For years, deputies have been delivering six-minute speeches in this three-minute zone. Cameras are not a deterrent here either: in fact, the live coverage on RTÉ and TG4 only encourages them.
But on Tuesday, Rory O'Hanlon warned of increased policing of the limits in future, and the threat of penalty points seemed to be having an effect.
It wasn't the only initiative that was bearing fruit, either. The Chief Whip's appeal (on behalf of his boss) for better attendance during the main Dáil events also appeared to be producing results.
After an indifferent start on Tuesday, when the afternoon session clashed with the opening of Punchestown, Government TDs made an extra effort yesterday in response to the Taoiseach's use of the whip.
As a consequence, Bertie Ahern was fronting a gang of 22 by the time Pat Rabbitte rose to criticise Ms Harney - sitting beside Mr Ahern - over problems in A&E departments.
The increased attendance lent a certain frisson to the Labour leader's claim that FF backbenchers have already "started to mutter behind her back" about her performance as Minister for Health.
Ms Harney, who kept her nerve and didn't look around, can be assured that the FF backbenchers were not muttering. But thanks to the Chief Whip's intervention, they were behind her back.