Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for facilitating me. I thank the witnesses for attending, in particular Mr. Waide. I was very happy to receive the letter he sent last week about parking on footpaths and cycle lanes to both Deputy Matthews and me. This is a very serious issue around the country and he acknowledged the seriousness of it in his response. We look forward to the RSA campaign that will be rolled out nationally to try to change driver behaviour so that people do not park on footpaths and cycle lanes. The onus is on motorists to give priority on the footpath to vulnerable road users and to those who have mobility impairments instead of thinking that their responsibility is to let the driver pass more safely. The greater responsibility is to let those walking on the path get by. I thank Mr. Waide for that.

On the subject of the theory test, we have seen quite a worrying trend in the past year where the rate of injury to pedestrians on roads has increased. That is because a lot more people are out walking due to Covid and also because the lower traffic volumes mean that traffic tends to go faster. Are the witnesses considering addressing the issue in the roll-out of the driver theory test? That is perhaps a question for Mr. Naughton.