Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for welcoming me to the committee today. I have come from the climate committee meeting. Obviously, I come with that hat on me.

I thank all our guests for coming in. As Deputy Matthews said, that was a striking image of what the current death toll is. While reducing the death toll must be front and centre, I have heard very little - I am not referring to our guests but to others - about the climate impact of reducing speed limits. That must be critical in this. I fully agree that we cannot slow down a campaign for 30 km/h speed limits. How could this campaign be aligned with a campaign on reducing car use overall? Does the RSA have some comments on that? Is it also aligning this campaign with a reduction in car use?

The fewer the number of cars moving around, the fewer deaths there are. We also know that the lower the speed limit, the greater the number of people cycling and walking. We also need to think about the fact that making it slightly uncomfortable for road users who are in their cars can have a knock-on impact in taking people out of their cars and putting them into cycle lanes and onto buses and getting them walking. That modal shift must be part of this conversation. Is this RSA campaign aligned with another campaign around reducing car use?