Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know the rules have changed, but grants are still available. In Dublin, while public transport is not perfect, it is far better than in rural areas, and now we are getting more of the grants, because the data shows this. I will move on, though, because the Minister answered this query for Deputy Whitmore.

I have one question on the importance of having accurate data on road injuries and especially in respect of planning for cycling, active travel and pedestrians.

My understanding is the Road Safety Authority, RSA, no longer makes its data publicly available for academics to analyse, which is out of sync with what happens in other European countries. Will the Minister intervene and request that the RSA make those data available? In 2016, when the data were available, Trinity College Dublin was able to carry out an analysis by looking at three different datasets relating to the hospitals, the RSA and the injuries board and found that cyclists were ten times more likely to be hospitalised with severe injuries than the RSA data suggested. The university now has a complete blind spot because the RSA will not even give it the data and it is working off old statistics. It is important, if we are strategically to plan active travel relating to cycle lanes and the impact SUVs have on fatalities on the road, to have the data. The RSA should be compelled to give those data to academics.