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

I thank the Senator. To his point on timing, he mentioned the Stillorgan dual carriageway, local authorities and speed limits. The challenge is that we have to change the legislation before the process can commence with local authorities. The longer this goes on in the committee and the broader Oireachtas, the further away the commencement of the review process will be. It will take a significant number of months, even in the best case scenario, for local authorities to do an assessment and change the limits in different areas. That will take a significant number of months anyway. That process cannot even commence without changing the underpinning legislation, which is the default limits.

We plan to have the guidance ready in the first quarter of next year. We are trying to progress this as a matter of priority and this has an impact on the other sequential timelines which we are trying to synchronise in the speed limit review.

Unfortunately, the figures this year are shocking. In terms of the Senator's point about young male drivers, the figures bear that out. Approximately 78% of fatalities are male this year, while 49% of overall fatalities are among people aged 35 and under. Approximately 14% of fatalities are between 16 and 20. We can combine these data with what we know from Garda toxicology evidence covering the period 2015 to 2019, which is that 37% of driver fatalities had a positive toxicology for alcohol, 13% had a positive toxicology for cocaine and 7% had a positive toxicology for cannabis. There has been an increase in the number of detections since that toxicology data was collated. Unfortunately, we are still seeing very worrying driver behaviour.

I welcome the fact that the NTA, in conjunction with local authorities, is installing safer traffic lights to facilitate cyclists moving first. That has been introduced in many parts of this city. The Senator also spoke about light rail. The NTA is currently examining the designs for Cork on the basis of council feedback and a preferred route is expected to go to public consultation in the coming months. Galway is progressing a new transport strategy. There is a focus on congestion in Galway and we have had a lot of feedback in relation to the ring road but people in the city and the county also want better public transport options, including bus and rail. I appreciate the Senator's feedback on that.