Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I will speak for four and a half minutes or so and Deputy Barry will use the rest.

It is about time we had a debate on the record of the RSA because it has become a sick joke. I wholeheartedly agree with the more than 30 road safety, cycling and pedestrian campaign groups that have stated that they have lost confidence in the authority because of the sharp increase in road deaths. They think it is no longer fit for purpose. The RSA has refused to release details of collisions to local authorities for the past eight years on data protection grounds that are spurious and that even the Data Protection Commissioner says are bogus. The RSA busies itself with handing out 40,000 hi-vis vests to two- and three-year-olds in preschool but has no remit in respect of reducing speed limits or installing zebra crossings. Its walking to school guide states that a responsible adult must keep hold of the hand of all children under 12 at all times and that all "children should wear high-visibility clothing when out walking". What a massive restriction that is on the freedom of a whole generation of children so that motorists can drive their cars whatever way they want, as fast as they want. Children today do not have the simple freedom to play the way their parents had because cars are everywhere, dominating and taking over our public space. The direct result is a massive increase in childhood obesity, huge declines in child physical fitness and growing mental health problems among our children.

One might think the RSA is precisely the authority to do something about it. Perhaps it is just under-resourced and it would do more if it had more money. Unfortunately, I do not believe that is the case. Like the rest of the State, the Government and most politicians in this House, the authority is suffering from a serious case of car-brain. Conor Faughnan, formerly of AA Roadwatch and now chief executive of the Royal Irish Automobile Club, chairs the RSA's annual conference. It cannot see beyond the tunnel vision of the motoring lobby that it cosies up to. We need a radical transformation of road safety that puts people before cars and people and their lives before the profits of the motor industry.

Next Monday, I will launch a new campaign for a ban on fossil fuel advertising and the advertising of fossil fuelled cars, with support from Friends of the Earth, Irish Doctors for the Environment, ActionAid, the Irish Cycling Campaign, Extinction Rebellion and others. This is a climate, health and safety measure. It could be part of a transformation from the car-centric culture we have to a people-centred culture. Once we get away from the abstract questions and the way they are often posed on radio programmes and elsewhere, down to the reality of people's lives, people want safe communities. They want their children to be able to cross a road to go to a playground without having to worry about them being knocked down.

I will give an example from where I live in Kingswood. We have a local campaign for a zebra crossing on Sylvan Drive, an extremely busy road. On one side of the road are a playground, a teen space, a community centre and a primary school and on the other side of the road are a church and the local shops. Elderly people and young people are going back and forth and we have no controlled crossing points on that road. We have a local campaign, spearheaded by Jess Spear, for a zebra crossing. Almost everyone we spoke to agrees with the idea. We collected more than 300 signatures on a petition. People want to have a safe, liveable community for their children, themselves and elderly people. Those petitions are being submitted to the council this week. I hope the council will agree and will install zebra crossings there. It is even cheaper to do now as lights are no longer needed.

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