The acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Safety Council has criticised the current system of driver training.
Noel Brett told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that people train to pass the driving test rather than learn to drive safely for life.
He said the Road Safety Authority could be used to regulate driving schools and move towards compulsory driver education.
The Taoiseach earlier warned motorists that they would face inconvenience as a result of measures to enforce road safety.
Bertie Ahern told the Dáil that the only way to respond to mounting road deaths was to take tough measures that would inconvenience people.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny called on the Taoiseach to take personal charge of road safety as he claimed no one was taking responsibility for the issue.
Mr Ahern said a high-level group had been established to co-ordinate the activities of the Departments of Transport and Justice, and he had convened a meeting of that group last week.
The death toll on Irish roads this year has risen to 51 with the announcement of the death of 68-year-old Celia O'Mahoney from Listowel following a three-car collision at Ballylongford on Sunday evening.
Eight-fold rise in speeding
A new survey by the National Roads Authority has indicated that the number of drivers speeding has risen eight-fold in just two years.
The research also suggests that motorists have been ignoring reduced metric speed limits on regional roads where most fatal accidents take place.
The National Roads Authority carried out the survey between June and August of last year.
The NRA measured so-called 'free speeds' - that is speeds recorded where the drivers were travelling on an open road with no congestion or adverse weather conditions to slow them down.
It found more than 60% of drivers broke the 80km speed limit on rural roads. This compares to only 8% only two years ago, an increase of 800%.
On county roads, nearly four out of ten drivers broke the speed limit, while on main roads in urban areas over 90% of cars were found to be speeding.
The survey also shows that while car drivers are now much more likely to speed on regional roads than they were two years ago, they are less likely to speed on the motorways and dual carriageways.
But that does not hold for heavy vehicles - the survey found that 100% of single decker buses and 94% of articulated lories are speeding on motorways.
The study also indicates that 70% of all fatal crashes last year happened on rural roads.
