Mr. Conor Faughnan:

One applies 30 km/h limits judiciously where they make intelligent sense, rather than declaring them across a wide area. If one looks at some of the most horrible fatalities that have occurred in Dublin city, particularly before the port tunnel opened and the subsequent HGV ban, they often involved very low speeds. Typically they involved HGVs turning left and being in collision with cyclists. I recall a horrible Dublin Bus accident on the quays. I also recall a fatality on O'Connell Street involving an elderly English tourist who was knocked down by a bus and killed. All of those collisions took place at speeds lower than 10 km/h.

It is not so much a question of making an emotive appeal and saying, "Every time we make the number on the signpost lower, we are doing some good". My challenge is that the evidence would suggest that we are not. We may be making ourselves feel better, but in terms of changing what is happening on the ground, one is by and large better served with local initiatives coming from local communities and relying on local laws, rather than having an absolute national law imposed. That is my view.