Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am sorry as I will have to leave to attend the Seanad. First, I endorse what has been said about reporting. It is true of any crime that if people do not feel reports are being taken seriously, they will stop making reports as they will feel they are wasting their time. I endorse what has been said.

As a cyclist, I probably do not report enough when I have had close calls. A number of my friends who have GoPro cameras have shown me footage of close calls and negative experiences they have had with all types of motorists and even other cyclists. In that regard, the portal is tremendously interesting but it comes with evidential challenges, of which the Garda will have to take stock. Extra instructions may need to be given to members of the Garda on how quickly they must act on this information, how they will preserve it and make it ready for presentation in court if and when that becomes necessary. It is a positive opportunity to ramp up enforcement and send out a clear message that people who are cavalier with other people's lives, which is what it comes down to, will not be able to walk away from it.

I accept the bona fides of what has been said about the Garda attitude to these things. I confess it has not been my experience. Comments have been made about Garda driving. I work in the criminal courts. I am aware there is huge demand for Garda parking in the surrounds of courts and Garda stations. Sometimes, some members of the Garda do not live up to what we expect of them in terms of driving and parking. It is not a general criticism of An Garda Síochána but there are some members who could be reminded of the situation.

I acknowledge what was said about the number of cameras on buses. I have a difficulty with the idea that the Garda was using bus footage as an enforcement mechanism. The Garda can use bus footage in the same way it can use footage from an individual cyclist, pedestrian or bystander. Bus footage does not have any superior evidential status.

It appears that there is a wealth of bus footage that could be used and co-operation between Dublin Bus and An Garda Síochána might be hugely beneficial.

There are parts of my area where we have extremely high-quality cycling facilities. I am thinking of Frascati Road, for example, where there is a bypass to Blackrock up to a point but unfortunately, it is patchy. As one goes along Rock Road, cyclists and buses share the same space and I am not sure that all Dublin Bus drivers understand that. Cyclists come in different categories and along that route there are some very fast commuter cyclists who just want to get there but there are also more vulnerable people who are slow. There are also people going to school, both children and parents, and I am not sure that all bus drivers understand that driving close to those people is not on, either behind them or next to them. I appreciate what has been said about the education provided for bus drivers but I have felt under pressure sometimes when there has been a very big bus right behind me. I am not a fast cyclist. I have a Dutch bike and it takes its time, unfortunately. When a bus is right up behind people it can really put them under pressure. The witnesses have said that there is experiential training for bus drivers, which I welcome, but it would be good to repeat the message to them that they have a role to play when they are sharing road space with cyclists.

I also want to endorse what Mr. Ferrie said about school transport and encouraging children to cycle to school. There are few enough children in my area who cannot cycle to school except for the lack of proper safe facilities. I was delighted to be involved as a councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown with moving a wall on Convent Road, off Carysfort Avenue, to facilitate children going to Carysfort National School. That hugely increased the number of children who could cycle along that stretch. We know that if the infrastructure is put in place, it increases the numbers who cycle to school. Some schools are doing their best and on the whole, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has shown itself to have a very good track record in putting infrastructure in place but it is still patchy. In the same way that the Rock Road, Frascati Road corridor is patchy, the same is true around some schools. Local authorities need to step up to the mark and central Government needs to support them financially to do so.

Finally, I am not in favour of 24-hour bus lanes because we do not have 24-hour bus services. There are places in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown with bus lanes, for example, Rowanbyrn along the Monkstown link road, where there is no bus service to speak of at all. If the bus service matches the bus lanes in terms of frequency and the time during which it operates, that is fine but at the moment we do not have 24-hour bus services so I do not see the merit in having 24-hour bus lanes.

I thank all of our contributors for their time.