Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

I thank our guests for their attendance here today. I note the opening statement and the apology for the unacceptable delays in the provision of driving test slots. The RSA has set out a commitment to reduce waiting times to ten weeks. It is an ambitious commitment and the witnesses have set out the means by which they will deliver that. There has been some progress, with a move from 27 weeks to 20 weeks and I have no doubt that my colleagues and I will be keeping track of these statistics over the next number of months.

When RSA representatives appeared before the Oireachtas joint committee this time last year, they set out another commitment regarding the implementation of data sharing agreements with local authorities in order that the RSA can share information about accident blackspots in particular areas. I was certainly surprised, and I know others were too, that such information could not be shared at that time with the organisations who are very much at the front line of dealing with making our roads safe. In the context of getting an understanding of the RSA's ability to deliver on commitments, I ask our guests to tell us whether those date sharing agreements with local authorities are in place yet. Is there a single data sharing agreement or are there individual agreements with each local authority? Has any data been shared with them yet about accident blackspots? If the answer to that is "No", what are the barriers to doing it? Are they legislative barriers or are they related to the drafting of the actual data sharing agreements?