Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for inviting me to talk about the important matter of road safety and update it on the road traffic measures Bill 2023. I sincerely appreciate the committee having made this time available at such short notice to discuss this legislation given the trends on our roads. I am joined by my Department officials who work in the area of road safety.

In three out of the last four years, we have seen an increase in roads-related fatalities and serious accidents. As the committee will be aware, 2023 has been a particularly dark year on our roads so far. As of Monday morning, there had been 155 fatalities on our roads this year. This is an increase in fatalities of 37, or 31%, compared to this time last year. This increase stands in stark contrast to the broader trend we have seen on our roads in recent decades. Ireland has made great strides in this regard, but we clearly need to do more to address the worrying change in direction which has emerged since the return to normality following the pandemic.

Each death and serious injury on our road impacts not just the victim but his or her family, friends and the wider community. Every family, including my own, has experienced it. Broadly, this requires action across four key areas, namely, enhanced enforcement, increased driver education, infrastructural improvements and legislative reform.

On enforcement, research by the Road Safety Authority, RSA, confirms that drivers rank having more gardaí on the roads as the single most influential factor that would encourage them to stop speeding or using mobile phones. There has been a decrease in the number of offences detected in 2023, which is of concern to me and a matter I have had significant engagement on with both the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and the Garda Commissioner. The Minister recently announced a 20% increase in the hours of deployment of speed camera safety vans by An Garda Síochána to the end of the year. This announcement is positive and will play an important role in addressing speed on our roads. I have also received assurances that additional resources will be deployed to roads policing as recruitment continues.

As regards driver awareness and education, the RSA recently received approval for €3.6 million in additional funding to strengthen its message on road safety.

I am sure we will touch on each of these areas in greater detail this morning but first I will update the committee on the road traffic measures Bill 2023, which forms the legislative response to the current trend. The Bill will act as an aid to the Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. This strategy sets out 186 actions which will aid Ireland in achieving its goal of reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2030 and put us on the path to achieving Vision Zero by 2050, in respect of eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.

The Bill will address a number of important issues which contribute to road safety, and I am sure that members, like me, want measures brought forward which aim to reduce the worrying trend we are experiencing on our roads. The ministerial road safety committee, which I chair, tasked a group of legislative experts across the road safety sector to consider possible changes to the penalty points regime to increase deterrence of dangerous road behaviour. This is aligned with Action 30 of the road safety strategy. While the recommendations on penalty points from that group are contained in the Bill, it also contains proposals on mandatory drug testing and the introduction of safer speed limit defaults following the publication of the speed limit review last month. These are all areas in which I believe we can make impactful progress before the end of the year.

I now propose to briefly outline the main issues to be addressed in the Bill. I am happy to respond to any questions the committee may have. Penalty points were first introduced in Ireland under the Road Traffic Act 2002. The goal of penalty points has always been to encourage safer driving behaviours and vehicle maintenance standards. As penalty points for specific offences are set out in tables contained in the First Schedule to the 2002 Act, any change in points will require an amendment of that Act. This makes it difficult to respond in a timely way to changing requirements in road safety and enforcement of driving offences. The Bill proposes moving the setting of penalty levels into secondary legislation via amendments to the Road Traffic Act 2002. However, it is also important to ensure the continued role of the Houses of the Oireachtas in any penalty point change. Accordingly, the Bill proposes that resolutions from both Houses would be required for any change in penalty points regulations would take effect.

The 2002 Act specifies that where a person commits more than one penalty point offence on the same occasion, they will receive only one set of penalty points, which will be the highest or joint highest. In contrast, someone who commits those offences on separate occasions will receive penalty points for each offence. This is a legal inequity on the basis that a driver who commits several offences at different times may attain 12 points and be disqualified, while another driver who commits the same offences, on the same occasion, may not be disqualified. The Bill will repeal the sections causing this anomaly.

Drivers retain the right to not pay the fixed charge notice and contest the charge in court if they wish. It is important to note that, where people commit multiple serious breaches of road traffic law on a single occasion, An Garda Síochána has discretion, under the Road Traffic Act 1961, to choose the most appropriate path, by either issuing fixed charge notices for the individual offences or prosecuting a person with an offence. Again, a driver may choose to contest the fixed charge in court.

My Department has conducted research into the variation of points during specified periods. A similar system operates successfully in several Australian states and has been shown to have a significant impact on improving road safety. Under this Bill, the Minister for Transport will be empowered to set higher penalty points for periods when road safety risks are higher. For example, evidence-based figures suggest bank holiday weekends give rise to a higher level of road deaths, serious injuries and other driving offences. As the Australian example shows, increasing points for specified periods is likely to lead to a positive impact on driver behaviour. It is important to note, however, that the introduction of such legislation would have to be accompanied by public awareness and education campaigns so that drivers are aware when increased penalties will be in force and can modify their behaviour appropriately. Denoting periods such as bank holiday weekends as increased penalty periods creates this certainty for drivers, and it is not intended that the legislation would be used to increase penalties in response, for example, to periods of particularly poor weather or other periods that could not be defined properly.

Under the Road Traffic Act 2010, members of An Garda Síochána are required to take a breath specimen for the purpose of testing for the presence of alcohol - known as mandatory alcohol testing - at the scene of serious road traffic accidents. Gardaí are not currently required to conduct a mandatory drug test at the scene of a collision. Instead, they have the option of conducting a drug test. I should state that gardaí often do conduct drug tests at the scene of collisions, but this amendment will simply ensure that drug tests will always be conducted on the same basis as alcohol testing, further strengthening the safety of our roads.

Committee members will be aware of the recently published Speed Limit Review. The review is a comprehensive document which recommends a number of changes to the speed limit framework. These will require legislative amendments. This Bill will include provisions for the implementation of key recommendations. The Bill will amend the default speed limits for national secondary roads, local roads, and urban roads, including built-up areas. While these new defaults will be safer, as previously outlined, local authorities will retain the ability to set speed limits for roads through the review process that will follow. These changes to default speed limits are being addressed as a matter of urgency. Other recommendations from the Speed Limit Review will be addressed in due course.

I thank the Chair and the members of the committee for facilitating this session in the interests of progressing the legislation before the end of the year. I look forward to the discussion with members and to hearing their thoughts and input.