Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The M50 upgrade started in August during good weather when many people were on holidays and the level of commuting was much reduced. In the first month of the works, 100 road traffic accidents occurred on the stretch of road between the N4 and Ballymount. Every one of these accidents caused a major traffic jam because the cars involved could not be moved to the hard shoulder and insufficient resources were available to the Garda Síochána to allow additional gardaí to be deployed.

The normal traffic patrol on the M50 cannot cope with the volume of traffic on the road. If a patrol is located at an interchange at the N7 and a disaster takes place at Ballymount, it cannot get to the scene. In addition, gardaí do not have towing equipment. The problem deteriorated as the weather worsened and nights grew longer. The upgrade commenced only recently and the problem will get even worse. I ask the Minister to consider the examine the issues I have raised.

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