Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right. The number of recent instances involving fatalities has been tragic. The tragic accident in Carlow last week was possibly the worst of those. We need to invest in the protection and renewal of our roads and in addressing some of black spot areas where the risk of accidents occurring is higher. Protection and renewal are the cornerstone because, if there is a solid surface and so on, it helps safety. In the past four years, there has been a 34% increase in spending in this regard. It is never enough, given that we have also had inflation in that period, but the increase was made to try to maintain safe road surfaces. We are also investing in our allocations to the local roads programme and to TII’s work. In recent years, we have been investing approximately €40 million per year in trying to find places to make road realignments, changes to junctions and improvements to black spot areas. Recognising the increase in that budget over the past two years, we increased it by a further €26 million this year to encourage TII and the local authorities to do exactly what the Deputy suggested, namely, to see whether we can address particular black spots. We will continue doing that. It is an important part of the response to the road safety programme. Other initiatives include reducing speed limits, increasing enforcement and investing in education.