Mr. Sam Waide:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak today. We are deeply saddened to acknowledge the tragic loss of life on Ireland’s roads in 2025. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families across the country and I also sympathise with those with serious injuries. In particular, I am conscious of the incident today involving an infant boy. It is fitting that, during road safety week, we reflect on Ireland’s recent road safety trends and developments, and the vital initiatives that we and other agencies must continue to implement to protect all who use our roads.

As of 7 October, a total of 128 people have been killed and over 1,000 seriously injured on our roads in 2025. This is five fewer deaths than in the same time period in 2024. However, every death is a heartbreak for a family, and one too many. Fifty-two of those fatalities were drivers and ten were passengers. Half of those who died on our roads this year were vulnerable road users, including 25 motorcyclists, 24 pedestrians,13 cyclists and two e-scooter users. Three quarters of all road deaths this year were male. One in four was aged 25 years or under, while one in three was aged 46 to 65 years. Counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Donegal, Mayo and Kerry have seen the highest number of fatalities this year to date.

I would now like to discuss some of the key road safety initiatives the RSA has progressed as part of our strategic approach. As part of major campaigns to support the change in speed limits on local rural roads from 80 km/h to 60 km/h in March 2025, we aired a new television-led awareness campaign that highlighted the change and the consequences of incremental speeding on rural roads. Our new anti-drug-driving campaign aired this year across TV and other media. It is designed to raise awareness of the consequences of a drug-driving conviction. We released a new anti-drink-driving campaign designed to call out the social acceptability of drink-driving and encourage the public to act if they see a friend about to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

Last month, the RSA launched its largest ever college road safety education programme, which commenced at UCD Freshers Week. Over seven weeks, the RSA team will visit 23 third level institutions. Our new programme for transition year students and teachers, Road Safety Matters, has been successfully rolled out nationwide. To date, we have provided professional training for 448 teachers across the country. We are currently piloting new junior cycle materials and resources. We had a strong presence at a range of festivals and social events this year, including the Electric Picnic and the Galway Races, with our FlineBox interactive breathalysers. Approximately 20,000 people self-breathalysed, helping them to make an informed decision as to whether they were safe to drive, or how long they should wait before doing so.

In relation to the driver testing service, I can report that, since September, this is now meeting its agreed service level with a ten-week national average estimate time to invite for new car test applicants. Over 160,000 tests were delivered between January and August 2025. This achievement was made possible through an intensive RSA recruitment and training work programme, coupled with the dedication and commitment of RSA staff extending the service to operate earlier and later on weekdays and on Saturdays and bank holidays. With regard to the NCT, beyond the current 50 test centres, four additional locations are planned for Clare, north Dublin, Cavan and Cork. The average booking lead time is currently below the service level agreement of 12 days.

In relation to the Government road safety strategy, responsibility for overall strategy development and co-ordination has now formally transferred to the Department of Transport, aligning with the completion of phase 1 actions in December 2024. The RSA played a central role in advancing a number of high-impact actions under phase 1, with a particular focus on speed reduction, camera-based enforcement and continued investment in research to inform communications, campaigns and educational programmes to tackle dangerous road user behaviours.

The RSA also worked closely with the Department in a collaborative role to shape and finalise the phase 2 action plan which runs from 2025 to 2027 and which was launched in July. The will lead on two primary actions in phase 2, supporting other lead agencies in nine other primary actions. We remain committed and integral to successful delivery of phase 2.

I will update the committee on the progress made in 2024 and 2025 in resolving the challenges relating to the sharing of road traffic collision data with local authorities. In July 2024, the Minister for Transport issued a formal direction, under section 8 of the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, for the RSA to collect, compile and process collision data received from An Garda Síochána and disseminate this to the National Transport Authority and local authorities. The RSA has commenced data sharing with the NTA and the NTA has the legal basis in place to receive this data. Local authorities do not have the statutory basis in place to lawfully receive and use the collision data. The Department of Transport is progressing the legislation to facilitate this. While awaiting this legislative change, the RSA has put in place ongoing measures to ensure collision data continues to be shared with local authorities for road safety works. We are fully committed to working with the Department of Transport and local authorities to ensure collision data is harnessed effectively to support evidence-based improvements to roads.

We are deeply concerned about the numbers of people who have died and been seriously injured on our roads this year. With sustained political commitment, a whole-of-government response and adequate resourcing and funding, we believe the phase 2 plan provides a clear path to accelerating progress in reducing road deaths and serious injuries and supports the achievement of Vision Zero by 2050.

I take this opportunity to thank my dedicated RSA staff. My colleagues and I are happy to take questions.