John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We have a quorum. We are in public session. I remind all present to switch off their mobile phones. Apologies have been received from Deputies Michael Colreavy, Seán Kenny and Noel Harrington.
The purpose of the meeting is to engage with Ms Liz O'Donnell, chairperson designate of the Road Safety Authority, in order to discuss the approach she proposes to take when appointed to the role and her views on the challenges currently facing the authority. Members are no doubt aware of the Government decision of May 2011 which put new arrangements in place for the appointment of persons to State boards and bodies. The committee welcomes the opportunity to meet with the chairperson designate in public session to hear her views and we trust that this provides greater transparency to the process of appointment to our State boards and bodies. On behalf of the committee, I welcome Ms Liz O'Donnell. I have no doubt most, if not all, members know her already. She is welcome back to the Houses of the Oireachtas.
I draw her attention to the fact that, by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I also wish to advise that any submission or opening statements submitted to the committee will be published on the committee website after the meeting. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.
I invite Ms O'Donnell to make her opening remarks.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I am honoured to have been nominated by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, as chairperson of the Road Safety Authority and thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the invitation to come before it. As a former Deputy and Minister of State, it is always a pleasure to come back to Leinster House, where I spent a considerable period of my life as a politician and have many good friends, in all parties and none.

By way of background and for those who do not know me, I was elected first to Dublin City Council in 1991 for the Progressive Democrats. Before that, I was active in the women's movement, canvassing in Mary Robinson's presidential campaign as a volunteer and as vice chair of the Women’s Political Association. I was first elected to the Dáil in 1992 and served as a Progressive Democrats Deputy for Dublin South from 1992 to 2007. I spent 15 years as a Member of the Oireachtas and was, initially, party spokesperson on health and social welfare and later party Whip and spokesperson on justice. In July 1997 I was appointed Minister of State at the then Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for overseas development assistance and human rights, a position I held until 2002. In that capacity, I had a role in Anglo-Irish relations and was a member of the Government’s negotiating team at the multi-party talks at Stormont which culminated in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In 2007 I was promoted to a seat at the Cabinet table as Minister of State to the Government on the retirement of my dear colleague Robert Molloy. I was a long-time member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, as well as a membe of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and the first Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I also served as Chief Whip and deputy leader of the Progressive Democrats. I retired from politics following the 2007 general election and now work on a diverse portfolio of activities which includes journalism, public affairs advisory and consultancy work and lecturing.

I am honoured to have been asked by the Minister to take on the role of chairperson of the Road Safety Authority, RSA. I am pleased to have the opportunity to offer my experience in the role and hope I can make a valuable contribution to reducing the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries on the roads. I acknowledge the important public service remit of the authority and the very committed staff with diverse qualifications serving it. In particular, I praise the work of my predecessor as chairperson, Mr. Gay Byrne, who played such a ground-breaking role in promoting the interests of road safety in Ireland. His passionate contribution to road safety since 2006 has been immense. He has been a tireless campaigner and helped to keep the spotlight and public focus on this important health and social policy area.

The aim of the Road Safety Authority is straightforward - it is to save lives and prevent injuries by reducing the number and severity of collisions on the roads. The impact of such deaths and injuries is felt in every corner of the country by every member of society. Each fatality and serious crash has a life-altering impact on families and individuals. The unexpected loss of a loved one in a car crash is a massive tragedy, with long-term emotional and financial loss for families. Fortunately, in recent years Ireland’s road safety record has improved measurably thanks to the work of the many agencies and individuals working in a strategic way to prevent death and injury on the roads.

In taking on this role I am not starting with a blank sheet - far from it.

The current strategy - the fourth road safety strategy - has been in place since 2013 and will run until 2020. It my job is to ensure it is implemented.

An evaluation of the previous Government road safety strategy, which ran from 2007 to 2012, has revealed that 686 lives were saved and that 1,400 serious injury collisions were prevented during its operation. In addition to ensuring fewer families had to grieve the tragic loss of a loved one, this equated in monetary terms to a saving of approximately €1.85 billion to society.

The fourth road strategy strategy builds on the progress made and understanding provided by the first three strategies - 1998 to 2002, 2004 to 2006 and 2007 to 2012 - tasked with improving safety on Irish roads. In 1998, the year Ireland's first road safety strategy was launched, 458 people died on the roads. Despite the worrying rise in the number of road deaths last year, which saw 190 people lose their lives, the number of fatalities has dropped by 58%. This must be set against a 66% increase in the number of cars using the roads over the period.

The new strategy contains 144 actions, all of which are aimed at making the roads safer. The areas covered by the actions include work-related vehicle safety, medical fitness to drive, drug driving, fatigue, distraction, mobile phones, vulnerable road users, emergency response and care. Critical to the success of the strategy are an informed public that guards against complacency and high profile enforcement of life-saving road traffic laws. The strategy requires a reduction in the number of people killed on the roads to 25 per million of population or less by 2020. This means reducing the number of deaths from 41 fatalities per million, or 190 road deaths in 2013, to 124 or fewer by 2020.

Serious injuries will be a particular focus of the strategy. In addition to continuing to reduce the number of fatalities, a special emphasis is placed in the strategy on the reduction in the number of serious injuries. There continues to be systemic under-reporting of serious injuries and improving the way we capture data on serious injuries resulting from road trauma is a most important task. Reduced numbers of fatalities and serious injuries will realise benefits for public health policy objectives, as well as result in reduced demands on emergency services. A safer road environment will encourage more road users to walk and cycle, thereby improving their well-being, reducing congestion and improving the environment. Better driving will reduce fuel costs and transport related emissions which will benefit everybody, especially those involved in business and industry.

The ministerial committee on road safety will continue to oversee implementation of the strategy. Ongoing monitoring of and reporting on the progress of the strategy will be augmented by a mid-term review. I note the broadening remit of the Road Safety Authority, RSA. The authority has changed significantly since it was established in 2006 with the addition of new functions. New responsibilities include the transfer of commercial vehicle roadworthiness testing from local authorities to the RSA, the introduction of the new plastic card licence and the transfer from local authorities of driver licensing responsibilities to the national driver licence service, regulation and management of additional vocational training for bus and truck drivers under the driver certificate professional competency programme, CPC, and the carriage of dangerous goods regulations. An organisational challenge faces the authority to align its existing structures to ensure it is in the best possible position to deliver on both new and existing functions.

Since its establishment, the RSA has become entirely self-financing. In 2013 it received €6.5 million in funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, but in 2014 no State funding will be allocated to the body. Part of my role as non-executive chairperson will be to oversee the effective functioning of the board and ensure the required corporate governance standards are in place and functioning at the highest level. The authority wants to ensure it is a highly effective and cost-effective organisation which offers the best value for money and which is respected as a leading public service body demonstrating integrity, trust and credibility.

Sunday, 16 November is UN World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. It allows us to pause and reflect on the tragedies caused by road traffic crashes. A total of 23,592 people have died on Irish roads since records began in 1959 - roughly the population of Tralee, County Kerry. A further 76,586 have suffered serious, life-changing injuries since we began recording them in 1977. Already this year 163 families, friends and communities have tragically lost a loved one. Although great progress has been made in reducing the number of deaths on the roads, there is no room for complacency. Constant advocacy, awareness and collaboration with the Garda, emergency services and the wider public is needed to ensure members of the public embrace road safety and take personal responsibility for their driving behaviour.

In my role as chairperson, if the committee ratifies my nomination today, I look forward to working with the staff of the RSA, my fellow board directors and other agencies devoted to road safety to prevent further needless loss of life. I also welcome ongoing engagement with Deputies and Senators as they are very close to their constituents and concerns in their constituencies and can inform and keep me abreast of developments in their communities and concerns about road safety.

I am happy to take questions members may have about my nomination.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Ms O'Donnell for her presentation in which she outlined a serious grasp of the challenges faced, the targets set and the achievements that have taken place since the RSA was set up. Last year the committee visited the headquarters of the RSA in Ballina. Seeing the analysis of all the tragedies and accidents that had occurred and how the RSA based its campaigns on statistics as they emerged was a very worthwhile exercise. Ms O'Donnell quoted the very stark figure of 23,592, which is greater than the the population of Tralee, for those who had been killed since 1959, in addition to 76,586 who had suffered serious injuries, which is greater than the population of Galway city. Obviously, there was a reduction in the figures until 2013 when there was a rise. There seems to be potential for a small rise, but I hope this will not happen because the numbers are still under last year's figures. What is the reason for this? What would improve the position? Could it be the shock therapy of all the advertisements carried on television? Is there a different approach the RSA could take to bring the figures below those for 2013?

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

It is remarkable that there was a rise in the number of fatalities in 2013, but that was the first rise in eight years. Therefore, we have made huge progress thanks to advocacy, public awareness campaigns and the public embracing road safety. However, there is a need for constant advocacy. For example, a worrying trend has emerged where almost one in five drivers killed in 2013 had not been wearing a seatbelt. This seems extraordinary, given all of the work done in advocacy, education and enforcement to ensure compliance the regulations on the wearing of seatbelts. That work is being repeated in 2014, but it goes to show that when one thinks one has got the message across about the need to wear a seatbelt, laxity starts to creepin again.

We must continue to convey the message that wearing a seatbelt is compulsory to save lives.

Looking at the increase in the numbers since 2013, a worrying number of vulnerable road users have died on the roads both this year and last year. A total of 30 pedestrians, 21 motorcyclists and nine cyclists have died on the roads to date in 2014. In contrast, there is a decrease in the number of driver deaths in 2014. In other words, young and old people, vulnerable road users, are increasingly at risk. The RSA will be examining the statistics. Ironically, due to the good weather this year and last year, more pedestrians and cyclists were out on the roads. They are increasingly vulnerable, particularly with more cars on the roads due to the economy lifting.

Road use and danger on the road are changing all the time, so it is the job of the RSA to study these statistics. There was a peak in the number of road deaths in the summer months both last year and this year. In addition to personal responsibility and everybody getting the message that they must drive slower and be more careful, concerted enforcement efforts will have to be deployed over the summer months in 2015.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Ms O'Donnell and congratulate her on her appointment. We will give her our full support in confirming her nomination. I wish her well in the task she is undertaking. I also recognise the work Mr. Gay Byrne has done. Ms O'Donnell has big shoes to fill, but I have every confidence that she will more than surpass the achievements that have been made to date. She will bring her own style and skills set to that difficult job.

She is joining a very important and wonderful organisation. It was established in recent years and it is a highly professional team of people who have done exceptional work in developing the strategy in tandem with the Government. It is now on the fourth strategy. Huge achievements have been made by the organisation, in tandem with the Government, in terms of the number of lives that have been saved and the number of people saved from serious injury.

Undoubtedly, there is a challenge ahead. Mr. Byrne made it very clear to the Government on his appointment that he did not intend to be a patsy, as it were, for the Government. He laid down a challenge to the Government at an early stage that if it did not follow through on the commitments that were made, he would not remain in the role. I hope and expect that the same will apply to Ms O'Donnell. Knowing her style, she has never been one to sit on the sidelines and allow things to happen against her will. She has always been very forthright and I expect her to bring that strength of character not in terms of standing up to the Government but working with it in a strong and effective way.

While the organisation is run exceptionally well and Ms O'Donnell will now be its public face and will be involved in developing a high profile strategy for maintaining the importance of saving lives on the road, there is an area that falls outside her competency, unfortunately, which is enforcement. Both Mr. Gay Byrne and the previous chief executive officer of the organisation were quite forthright in ensuring that both the strategy and the efforts made on enforcement were aligned in so far as possible. That will be a challenge for Ms O'Donnell. I wish her well in the effort to ensure that sufficient resources are in place to deal with enforcement. Any independent observer of the slide in the good results of recent years would have to consider a reduction of investment in the ability of the Garda to patrol as effectively as it might wish. That is the area of greatest concern for me. It does not relate directly to Ms O'Donnell's role but it feeds into that role in terms of her interaction with the Government. Perhaps she would comment on that aspect.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I intend to take the independence of the role very seriously, as did my predecessor, Mr. Gay Byrne, and the Minister expects me to do that as well.

Of course, enforcement is a huge part of the fight against road accidents, road collisions and fatalities on the roads.

Enforcing the law is important because it acts as a deterrent to those who are negligent in their road use. I note that the traffic corps was reduced in size from 1,200 to 800 gardaí, which is a source of concern. An Garda Síochána will state it is doing the best it can with reduced resources by using more intelligent ways of enforcing traffic rules, including the use of safety cameras and automatic number plate recognition systems. At the same time, it is important to the public to know that there is visibility on the roads. There is major co-ordination between the RSA and An Garda Síochána on enforcement. When we are strategising on drug driving or mandatory alcohol testing coming up to Christmas, there will be increased enforcement to collaborate and co-ordinate with the efforts of the RSA. I hope to be in a position to comment on any aspect that affects road safety. The mandatory alcohol testing enforcement, or roadside, tests have been extremely important in reducing the incidence of people drinking and driving. The message is getting across and has reduced the number of fatalities on the roads. The Minister will prepare legislation shortly to deal with the impairment of driving caused by drugs, but it requires legislation to improve enforcement. The measures will be included in the next road traffic Bill.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate Ms O'Donnell and wish her well in her role. I also compliment her predecessor.

With the guidance of the Chairman, I would like to see a full relationship between the chairman of the RSA and the committee. It is beneficial that the chairman comes before the committee on a regular basis. While we are talking about the matter of road fatalities, in my constituency a man was killed this morning while crossing the road in the village of Hospital. That brings home to us what this issue is all about.

Ms O'Donnell put the emphasis on enforcement, but I am equally concerned about engineering. Three elements associated with the maintenance of a safe road network are engineering, enforcement and education. The RSA has an important role to play in the case of engineering. I, therefore, ask for Ms O'Donnell's thoughts on how she envisages holding local authorities and the National Roads Authority to account for the engineering of some roads. When the latest road fatalities take place on a Saturday or Sunday morning, they do not take place on the motorway network which, thankfully, is doing a good job. Fatalities happen in isolated rural locations on roads that have been identified to local authority members and engineering staff as being in need of attention. During the good days of the Celtic tiger and now the bad days very little was and has been done with these roads. In some cases, nothing has been done. I previously cited the example of local authority maintenance of speed limits. In driving through Moll's Gap on the national secondary route from Killarney to Kenmare parts of the road are barely wide enough to take a single car, yet the speed limit is 100 km/h. This shows how in the maintenance of these roads local authorities are out of touch.

It was reported last week in the media in Limerick that cases involving GoSafe vans were being thrown out of the Circuit Court in Newcastle West. Solicitors claimed that as individuals before the court had not received notices by registered post, there was no proof that they had received the notices. The system is unravelling. GoSafe vans are positioned on the side of the road, but their operators cannot give evidence before the court.

In the context of making the roads safer, it is not exactly sending out the best signal to have loopholes through which one could drive a lorry with regard to the implementation of speed detection operations on our road network.

Another issue that has been raised before is the Road Safety Authority's operation of the National Driving Licence Service, NDLS. At the outset I vocally outlined concerns about the implementation of service and our concerns have been shown to be well founded. Mullingar, Tullamore and Portlaoise are within 25 miles of each other but there are towns in the west of Ireland covering large counties where there is no outreach service for the NDLS. In my county of Limerick, there are locations more than 40 miles away from the Parkway shopping centre where the NDLS operates. Elderly people and those from rural and far-flung areas have no access to the service at the point of contact, which is causing much difficulty. The problem arises routinely.

Another issue on the RSA's radar will be those people who restore and maintain vintage engines and vehicles for use on our road network who are being treated almost as some sort of pariah, for want of a better word. There is a suggestion in some quarters that they should bring their vehicles to the 2014 standard. As I indicated at a recent committee meeting, if the people seeking regulations had them imposed across the board, we would have former President de Valera's Rolls-Royce, with the registration ZJ 5000, dismantled in order to fit rear seatbelts, headrests and new mirrors. That demonstrates how unrealistic are some of the new regulations for parts of our heritage.

I welcome the opportunity to have the witnesses before us and it should happen on an ongoing basis. I hope we see them regularly. I hope the RSA will challenge us, as this should not be a one-way street. With the issues of road safety and potential carnage, nobody should be safe from criticism, including the Government, local authorities and the Garda.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I look forward to ongoing engagement with the members of this transport committee, as Deputies and Senators have a great deal to offer to the RSA and the overall project of road safety because of local knowledge. With regard to engineering issues, the National Roads Authority, NRA, is responsible for major road networks but there is ongoing engagement with local authorities. Speed limits and the quality of roads at local authority level is a matter for those authorities. Although there is some engagement and collaboration as I understand it, I do not have authority over the state of local roads. Of course, it is an important issue.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The point is that the Garda is being challenged and the RSA should have a naming and shaming role with regard to local authorities which are failing in their duties. We know some of them. One can get lost on some roads in this country not for the want of signs but because of the size of potholes. Deputy McEntee's county would be an example of somewhere with a serious problem in that regard, along with my county. The authority's role should be to shame these local authorities into maintaining the roads.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I take that on board and I will be involved with everything with relevance to the road safety agenda. Deputies and Senators will have to understand that I have only been nominated to take up the position and I have not looked under the bonnet of the organisation yet. I am reading myself into the brief. Forgive me if I am not in a position to answer detailed questions such as the positions of GoSafe vans. I will have a reply for the queries in this engagement sent to Deputies.

There were teething problems with the driving licence function and Deputies, Senators and local representatives were not shy in bringing these to our attention. There is a greater level of security now attached to the issuing of a new card. I asked this question because of public concerns about delays in the initial setting up of service and the driving licence card is now being turned over in between five and eight days.

On the Deputy's point on the siting of the driving licence service centre locations, I will have to get back to him on that because I am not familiar with this issue. He referred to the distance between the siting of centres, particularly in Limerick. I will arrange for a reply to be sent to him on that matter.

On the Deputy's point regarding vintage cars, it is not an aspect I had considered previously. I am sure the staff in the Road Safety Authority will have a reply for me on that to send to the Deputy in due course.

I agree with the Deputy that it is important that I would come back at regular intervals to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications of the Houses to report on my views and my progress in taking on the role as chair of the authority. Constant advocacy and constant audit of how we are getting on or any trends that need addressing are important. I am happy to come back to the committee and be accountable on behalf of the organisation.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I call Senator Brennan.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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I am glad to hear that fatalities have dropped by more than 50%. I did not hear the exact percentage.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

It is 58%.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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That is great news.

Ms O'Donnell mentioned that the authority is self-financing and that it did not obtain any State aid this year. What are the authority's main sources of funding?

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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It is those of us who break the speed limit.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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That is another issue. I would maintain that a motorist driving at 43 km/h in a 40 km/h speed zone is not really breaking the speed limit nor is a motorist fined for driving at 63 km/h in a 60 km/h speed zone. The imposing of two penalty points for doing that is too big of a penalty.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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It has now gone up to three.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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Has it gone up to three now? It was only two when I got them on a Christmas Eve for driving at 53 km/h in a 50 km/h speed zone on my way home with my Santa Claus gifts.

It is sad to hear 166 families this year alone have lost loved ones, and I know a few families personally who have lost loved ones. I note that one in five, or 20%, of those killed on our roads in 2013 was not wearing a seatbelt. Those are startling and alarming figures. I was going to call Ms O'Donnell "Minister" but she is not a Minister now although she might be again.

The issue of national schools is a hobby horse of mine. Many of our national schools are located on very busy roads. I instance one school in Kildare that has five different signs alerting motorists to slow down passing the school. I took photographs of the signs. There are flashing lights and four or five signs on either side of the road outside the school but the only way to slow the traffic was to put down speed bumps. It should be a policy of every local authority where national schools are located on busy routes to contemplate the installation of speed bumps to safeguard children exiting buses or cars, or crossing a busy road to enter school. Unless such provision is made these locations are an accident waiting to happen.

I congratulate Ms O'Donnell on her appointment and wish her every success. She is well qualified for it and, as the Chairman said, she will have big shoes to fill. I acknowledge Mr. Gay Byrne's contribution to the NRA over the years.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

On the Exchequer allocation to the authority, a contingency of €3.37 million was available this year but it has not been drawn down. This means that at last the Road Safety Authority has become self-financing.

Its financing comes from the provision of demand-driven services, the national car testing regime and the driver licensing system. The authority's remit is very broad and includes road safety awareness and education, driver testing, and vehicle standards and related matters. Requirements regarding driving hours and rest periods, and the use of tachographs, also come within its remit, as well as the application of the working time directive in the road transport sector. The authority is also involved in bus and truck driver vocational training, enforcement issues relating to bus operator and road haulage operator licensing, commercial vehicle standards, and statistical data collection and research functions. All of these are in addition to the NCT system. The RSA is charging fees for all of these services and that is how it has become self-financing.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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On that point, I have been approached by a number of business people on an individual basis who are of the view that the RSA has become a revenue-collecting resource in its own right and this is, in some instances, hindering the execution of business. I am not suggesting that inspections should cease or anything like that, but the people to whom I have spoken are saying that prices have increased to such an extent that they may be a factor in putting some people out of business. It is really a question of balance. Is it envisaged that the RSA will at some stage be a profit-making entity? The business people who approached me have always made sure their delivery lorries were up to specification and so on, but now their drivers are being stopped on the road. Ms O'Donnell might not be able to respond on this point today, but it is a concern I have. The business owners who brought this issue to my attention are not law-breaking people.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

In the case of ensuring the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles, the cost involved is worth it given what is at stake. The Kentstown crash was one of the most awful-----

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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To be clear, I am not in any way suggesting that we take any shortcuts in this regard. Perhaps a better example is the one Deputy O'Donovan gave regarding vintage cars. Those types of vehicles are seldom involved in accidents, as far as I am aware, and their owners often do a great deal of charitable work, which is particularly important in the rural economy. It is about getting the balance right.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

Yes. I will raise the issue of the compliance requirements as they relate to vintage cars. I am sure the RSA has an answer to that question.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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It does.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

Has the Deputy heard its answer before?

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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We have indeed.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I will look into the matter.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome Ms O'Donnell and apologise for being late. When farmers get talking, it is hard to stop them. I look forward to seeing Ms O'Donnell regularly in the coming months and hope she will enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship with the committee. We have discussed the issues that will be under her remit and some of the issues that are more appropriate for the National Roads Authority or local authorities. I met Ms O'Donnell's predecessor at various events in recent years and he was never afraid to speak his mind. I hope the chairman designate will bring the same enthusiasm to the role.

It is disappointing that the road fatality figures are up this year. We were on a fantastic downward streak for quite some time, but it is very hard to keep the numbers going in the same direction. I am particularly struck by the figures for last year showing the number of pedestrians who were killed. I have seen the new television advertisement which shows how different road users see the road in different ways. There needs to be greater focus on safety for pedestrians. Although I did not know until recently what the "N" stood for, the introduction of N-plates is a welcome development.

There is a huge focus on young people being aware and taking care - knowing what to do on the road - but there should be more focus on pedestrians, as the numbers speak for themselves. I wish Ms O'Donnell the best of luck.

Since the bus crash at Johnstown, County Meath, road safety measures have doubled, and people must adhere to what is set out in a large booklet, but this means less work is being done. Fewer roads are being resurfaced and this creates danger, so a balance must be struck. Safety is the priority. I again wish Ms O'Donnell the best of luck and hope she is back before this committee soon.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I thank Deputy McEntee for her good wishes. Too many pedestrians have been killed on the roads so far this year. The figure stands at 30, which represents too many fatalities in a vulnerable user group. The RSA will make vulnerable road users the focus of forthcoming campaigns as the dark evenings approach. Members of the public must be more aware and drive more slowly; they must be aware that hitting a pedestrian at even a slow pace is frequently fatal. I am conscious of this issue and it will be a focus of mine.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I wish to follow on from matters raised by Senator Brennan. What does Ms O'Donnell think of the fact that the number of penalty points for speeding offences has increased from two to three? A driver who accumulates 12 penalty points is off the road. Anecdotally, I have been told that there are locations in towns and villages across the country where speed detection is perceived to be an area of revenue generation. I do not condone the breaking of speed limits, but is the scale of the penalty proportionate to the offence? A driver accrues three penalty points for driving at 54 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, and one who accumulates 12 penalty points is off the road.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I do think it is proportionate, and it has been proven that penalty points act as a deterrent. People will be careful not to exceed the speed limit in the knowledge that doing so will cost them three penalty points. This applies to me too. This deterrent works, and I support the respective increases to three and five penalty points. Notwithstanding the inconvenience to people, the fear factor influences people to reduce their speed.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Unless there are any other questions, we will conclude. I thank Ms O'Donnell for attending and laying out her strategy. I propose to send a transcript of today's discussion to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, for his information and consideration. Is that agreed? Agreed. I do not see obstacles in the way. I congratulate Ms O'Donnell on her appointment.

Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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We should have asked a question about amending penalty points.

Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I thank the Chairman and the committee members.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We will adjourn until 9.30 a.m. tomorrow, when we will meet the Telecommunications and Internet Federation and the Irish Cellular Industry Association to discuss mobile phone coverage and broadband availability.