Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the introduction of this legislation. In particular, I welcome the provision allowing for the creation of a new special speed limit of 20 km/h. Last year, I, along with Deputy Ellis, introduced the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, known as Jake's law. It was introduced in memory of Jake Brennan, who was knocked down outside his home in Kilkenny on 12 June 2014. Six year old Jake died tragically in his mother's arms on the street where he grew up and where he should have been safe. This tragedy led his family to embark on a campaign to reduce speed limits in estates and residential areas. The family did not want any other family to go through a parent's worst living nightmare. It is a nightmare they live to this day. The family's resolute determination and perseverance, and particularly that of Jake's mother, Roseann, who went so far as to participate in a three-night sleep-out outside the Dáil, were an inspiration and the driving force behind the legislation we introduced. I would like to believe the family is the driving force and inspiration for the provision on speed limits in the Minister's legislation. I warmly welcome that provision.

When we introduced Jake's law initially, the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, accepted the principle of our proposal for a mandatory speed limit of 20 km/h in residential areas. However, it was his view that this limit should be optional, leaving the determination of speed limits in estates in residential areas to local authorities and councillors.

That is where the problem lies. It is a problem to leave it to the discretion of local authorities. It is much less likely that the 20 km/h speed limit will be imposed if it is viewed as discretionary, and more so if our local authorities do not have the resources or funding available to allow them to put in place signage for those lower speed limits. It is imperative that sufficient funding is made available to local authorities to ensure that they simply cannot set aside their discretion because of financial constraints.

I reflect on the fact that €2 million was previously made available for local authorities to implement the 30 km/h speed limit and much more will be required if the 20km/h limit is to be imposed and observed. My fear is that having done the right thing, this provision, as it stands in the Bill, is in danger of becoming a toothless tiger. I ask the Minister to reflect on that.

Unfortunately, Jake was not the only child to lose his or her life or be injured close to his or her home on the streets where he or she played. For example, 262 children under the age of 14 lost their lives on roads in the years between 1997 and 2012. In the same period, 1,115 children were seriously injured. Some 57% of child injuries occurred in built-up areas. I hear the message around vulnerable citizens generally, and the point is very well made. My focus, in particular in Jake's law, was firmly fixed on our child citizens.

It is fair to say that the new speed limit, apart from saving children's lives, would have ecological benefits. It would result in less noise pollution and greater fuel efficiency. We do not want any other child to become a statistic and I do not suggest for a moment that any of us would regard any fatality, much less the loss of a child, as a statistic, but that is why the 20 km/h speed limit is so essential in residential areas and estates. It should be the mandatory speed limit in housing estates, public or private, across the land.

Roseanne campaigned for change. While the provision as it now stands is welcome, it does not fully represent the change that she and her family campaigned for or offer the protection for residents or children in housing estates that it would otherwise offer if lower limits were mandatory rather than discretionary. Roseanne campaigned for change so that no other family would go through the heartbreak she went through and through which she still lives.

Our housing estates where our children are growing up should be places where they can play safely, kick a ball about and run to their friends' houses without fear. Lower speed limits, in conjunction with proper traffic calming measures, will make our housing estates safer environments for our precious children. It is basic logic that the lower the speed, the greater chance a child has of surviving an accident. I dread the prospect of revisiting this issue in the future after another tragedy. We do not want a version of Jake's law. Rather, in order to keep our children safe we now need a mandatory speed limit applicable to housing estates, and it should be 20 km/h.

Every night on social media, Roseanne Brennan posts a message to her son Jake. I am sure at this stage all of us are on social media. If we want to look in to the soul and importance of this issue, we should read those posts because they say more, and say it far more eloquently, than any of us in the Chamber could. I have just received a text message - that is probably prohibited under some rule or other in the House - from Roseanne Brennan. She has expressed her great happiness that this provision is contained in the Bill. I think I can speak for her, when I urge the Minister, not just on our behalf but also on her behalf, to take this to the next level. When Jake's law is recalled, it might be recalled that the Minister, Deputy Ross, was the Cabinet Member who ensured that it became the safety protection measure that it is meant to be.

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