Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 7, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:

5.—(1) The Authority shall have policy role in—

(a) making general road safety policy recommendations to the Minister,

(b) advising the Minister on any review of speed limits,

(c) advising local authorities on general road safety policy,

(d) liaising between any itself and any one or more of the following bodies:

(i) an Garda Síochána;

(ii) the National Roads Authority;

(iii) local authorities and municipal authorities;

(iv) the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government;

(v) the Department of Transport; or

(vi) such other bodies as the Minister may prescribe from time to time.

(2) The Authority shall have consultative and advisory roles in any review or reform of road categories, or in terms of their route letter and number.

This amendment relates to the policy role of the authority. While we know the authority will have a policy role, the legislation is so vague that it is necessary to insert the authority's core policy functions in the legislation in respect of, for example, making recommendations to the Minister, advising the Minister and liaising between the various bodies involved. Several bodies are mentioned in the Bill but there are others that would have an interest. It should be stated in the legislation that the AA, insurance companies and others must be consulted as part of the authority's ordinary work.

Amendment No. 30 calls for the authority to produce a five-year strategy statement, including targets and recommended actions for itself and other agencies with road safety remits. Amendment No. 31 calls for an annual review of the causes of road deaths and accidents, which is a basic policy role of considerable importance for the new authority. It would have implications for other agencies, such as the Garda, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and so on.

A topical issue raised previously is that the method of information collection tends to be geared towards prosecutions, which is important from the point of view of the Garda, but another interest transcends individual accidents, that is, the accumulation of information about accidents in general — what type of accidents occur, where they occur, the causes as far as they can be determined and the severity of the accidents. Other information would include toxicology reports, whether people died or were injured and whether there were prosecutions. This type of information is essential if we are to make the administration of the authority meaningful rather than whimsical.

On our much maligned junket to Australia, our committee discovered the extent to which that country was rigorous in ensuring every policy action was either evidence-based or the result of internationally accepted behavioural change mechanisms. Without so doing is to make policy in the dark. I have faith in the authority's new chief executive officer to seek established best practice policies that work.

In addition to introducing and recommending policy changes, the authority must ensure that changes are monitored to ensure they have their intended effect. It is most important that policy leads somewhere and achieves its intended purpose. It should not be based on a Sunday night pub chat, or learned from the media, but should be based on facts. The authority should become a powerhouse of knowledge that informs the Garda, policy and this House, in order that everyone will know that measures taken will have a purpose and an impact on saving lives and reducing the general rate of accidents.

See this speech in context