Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all our witnesses for attending today to discuss what is a fundamental matter in ensuring our roads and streets remain as safe as they possibly can be.

In his opening contribution, Mr. Ferrie stated clearly that illegal parking is not a victimless crime and it is not, given both the tragic circumstances that sometimes arise from illegal parking and indeed in the cultural environment where all road users are seeking to travel to and from their destinations in the safest possible manner.

I have a few questions in the first instance for Dublin Bus and I thank Ms Keane for her contribution and for operating one of the finest public transport services in any city in Europe. We are in a situation, and have been for many years, where Dublin Bus drivers, cyclists and other road users have to share bus lanes. Hopefully that will become a thing of the past to a certain extent as we roll out the BusConnects network, not only across Dublin but across our other major cities. Could Ms Keane outline the training drivers undergo before they take to the road on how they interact with and ensure the safety of cyclists as they engage with them on our bus lanes, primarily in Dublin? How often do they receive refresher training on that aspect of their driving? When a cyclist or other vulnerable road user reports an incident that causes them serious concern or in some cases injury, what are the reporting mechanisms within Dublin Bus? I ask because my experience of engaging with Dublin Bus is that I send an email, receive an acknowledgement of the email but no further account of what transpired as a result of that email. It would be helpful for cyclists and other road users to receive some sort of information as to what transpired after the event. It would serve to build more confidence in Dublin Bus and its drivers, in the knowledge that they are aware of the vulnerability of the people they encounter on bus lanes every day.

I thank the members of An Garda Síochána for the extraordinary work they do in ensuring the safety of all road users on a daily basis. It is a challenging job at the best of times. A cultural issue exists where the vast majority of road users do not consider illegal parking to be a major problem or that there are any victims of it. Equally, I would argue that the tendency at times of some members of the force to park illegally lends to that cultural belief. Could the members of An Garda Síochána outline when and where it is acceptable for a member in a Garda vehicle to park in a bus lane, in a cycle lane or on a footpath? What are the circumstances when that can happen?

The Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) Regulations 2019, SI 495 of 2019, provides that a "driver shall not overtake or attempt to overtake if to do so would endanger or cause inconvenience to a pedal cyclist". Do members of the force receive any specific training on how to enforce that element of our road traffic legislation? If so, how often do they receive refresher courses on or reminders of that legislation? My experience and that of other road users is of a significant inconsistency of approach across the force in various parts of the country as to how that legislation is enforced. In some cases, I argue there is little or no knowledge of that legislation in some Garda stations. I know that from engaging directly with road users who have reported instances of close passing and close overtaking and have found that the member they are reporting it to is not aware of this legislation.

Does An Garda Síochána see any value in the creation of an online portal where members of the public, including motorists, cyclists or other road users, could quickly and efficiently upload dashcam evidence of dangerous driving to aid the Garda to enforce road safety legislation? This has been successfully implemented in parts of the UK. A couple of years ago senior members of An Garda Síochána met with those who worked to introduce this provision in the UK, whereby dashcam footage can be uploaded to an online portal. An expert group or unit within the force can immediately assess whether an offence has taken place and take subsequent action. Does it see a value in implementing something similar here? Whenever a serious road traffic incident occurs on our roads-----