Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I echo what others have said, and thank them for the work they do in trying to improve road safety and in the context of all their other tasks. It is quite a balancing act for the Garda to deal with all the crime issues as well as to deal with road safety. I know it is a constant battle, and we appreciate all they do.

In dealing with road safety, the committee has given extensive consideration to issues relating to national routes, speeding and fatalities. I will concentrate on urban areas and on areas in which lower speed limits apply and where there are difficulties. Representatives from the Love 30 campaign came before the committee - Mr. Waide was present at that meeting - and we discussed 30 km/h zones in urban areas. I want to concentrate on urban areas.

We have seen the figures relating to fatalities. Do we also collate all the figures for injuries in respect of which hospitalisation was required and injuries where it was not required but where the incidents that occurred were reported to the Garda? Professor Cusack said that strategy needs to be evidence-based. I would like to pull all that evidence together. Do we collate the detail relating to incidents where: a cyclist is struck by a vehicle; there is a near miss that causes an accident and it is reported to the Garda, a cyclist sustains an injury and goes to hospital or to a doctor; a cyclist has to be out of work for more than three days and the matter is has to be reported to the Health and Safety Authority? The latter only relates to injuries sustained at work. Do we collate that detail for pedestrians as well? Is all the data pulled together in one place?