Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Eamon Ryan for raising this important issue. I share his dismay over the number of cyclists and pedestrians who died in recent weeks. The number this year is now five. It is absolutely unacceptable and demands action.

What Deputy Ryan is saying is correct but we should consider the matter in a somewhat wider context also. When he says our roads are not safe for cyclists, he is right. Our roads are not safe for anyone at the moment. Forty-six people have lost their lives on our roads so far this year, including five cyclists, who account for 10.8% of the total number of road fatalities.

Every death is one too many, and my Department and I, together with the Road Safety Authority, RSA, the Tánaiste, An Garda Síochána and local authorities, work together to implement measures to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries on our roads. As a result of what is a crisis of fatalities on our roads, we have doubled the number of those meetings per annum in recent times. My Department is tackling the issue of cyclist-related deaths and serious injuries through a multifaceted approach. This involves targeting cyclist and motorist attitudes and behaviour, an education programme, the provision of cycle tracks and the rolling out of the Cycle Right campaign.

The current road safety strategy, which runs from 2013 to 2020, contains measures to promote the use of personal protection equipment and high-visibility clothing, in addition to the development of a standardised road safety cycling proficiency training programme for schools, the Cycle Right programme. Arising from the work of a steering group comprising the RSA, An Garda Síochána, Coaching Ireland, An Taisce, the local authorities and my Department, Cycling Ireland, which is funded by my Department, has developed the new Cycle Right cycling training standard. Cycle Right was launched in January this year and will be rolled out during 2017 to as many primary schools as funding allows. I am confident that this new cycle training, which includes an on-road element, will result over time in an increase in the number of children choosing to cycle to and from school safely. It is expected that between 12,000 and 15,000 children will avail of the training in 2017. Cycling Ireland will administer and manage the Cycle Right scheme registration and will maintain an Internet-based public register of qualified and approved Cycle Right trainers. My Department has allocated €350,000 to subsidise participating schools for the cost of the training, which will also be funded by parental and local authority contributions. The RSA is also contributing significant funding towards this initiative.

The RSA has produced a new 60-second advert focusing on cycling safety, particularly on the need for drivers to take extra care when sharing the road with cyclists. Cyclists are entitled to road space as much as cars, vans, goods vehicles or any other vehicle on the road. The advert aims to educate drivers on sharing the road safely with cyclists, and on motorists' responsibility to cyclists as vulnerable road users. The general message is the need for drivers to observe the road property at all times for the presence of cyclists.

In regard to funding for cycle tracks, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that under the sustainable transport measures grants, STMG, programme, my Department provides funding to the National Transport Authority, NTA, for the seven local authorities in the greater Dublin area for the implementation of sustainable transport measures, including cycling infrastructure. Funding of €23.2 million was allocated to this programme alone in 2016. The NTA also manages a similar sustainable transport grants programme - the regional cities programme - in the four regional cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Overall funding for these two programmes in 2016 was €36.7 million. That is addressing the issue that the Deputy raised. He has raised the general issue of cycling, which I will address in response to his supplementary question.

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