Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Road safety is a priority for Government, and the Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012, which was launched in October 2007, is a key safety initiative. The overall objective of the strategy is to bring Ireland in line with best practice countries in road safety terms and to reduce the number of fatalities to no more than 60 fatalities per million or 252 fatalities per annum, the figure stated in the strategy. The strategy contains 126 actions with target completion dates. It is being successfully implemented with the involvement of a number of Departments, the Garda Síochána, and other agencies, and there has been a sustained reduction in the number of people killed on our roads.

Last year yielded the lowest number of fatalities on record and records began in the late 1950s. The downward trend continues this year, with a further reduction of 19 this year. The funding of other Departments and their agencies involved in road safety is a matter for those Departments. In the light of the current difficult economic situation the final allocation to the Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority for this year will be published in the Revised Estimates Volume following the Supplementary Budget Statement next Tuesday. In that context, the 2008 allocation included a special provision to reduce the driver testing backlog. This objective was achieved and the RSA is maintaining the driver test waiting time at ten weeks.

The RSA will continue its activities in 2009, making best use of both Exchequer funding and the fee income generated by the agency. The road safety strategy remains the way forward agreed by the Government, for the RSA and for all other agencies involved, with the objective of continuing to save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.

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