Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kelly for raising this very important issue and I share his great concern for road safety. If we come to the problem with different attitudes and different solutions that is no harm. He referred to road deaths, and every one is a serious tragedy which cannot be in any way redeemed or reversed. It should be tackled from very many angles. There is absolutely no one solution to road safety, and the issue on which Deputy Kelly has put his finger today is undoubtedly one of the problems and undoubtedly, the TII has a big role to play in it.

I reassure Deputy Kelly that the high-level committee on road safety has meetings on a far more regular basis now, and on every occasion I ask the TII in particular how it is doing in its programme on saving lives, road safety and tackling accident black spots. Let me say in response, that whatever response it gives me will never be sufficient, just as whenever I see the result of the - happily - falling road death figures at present, as a number, it is not satisfactory either.

Every suggestion and proposal which is put and every item of legislation on this issue will be seriously considered, as will the suggestion Deputy Kelly has made today. If we can do any more, we will do so. Simultaneously, Deputy Kelly will acknowledge the Government, and the Government of which he was a member, are and were second to none in terms of their commitment to this issue and the legislation is there to prove it. The legislation to tackle road deaths, which is primarily my job to introduce to the House, has included an attack on drug-driving and drink-driving, and I hope this year we will also be able to introduce an attack on speed. I hope this will save more lives and I hope the projects to which Deputy Kelly referred will be addressed with enthusiasm and energy and will also save lives. Our ambition, of course, is to bring the numbers down to zero. That will probably never happen, but there is huge room for improvement and it applies to the M7 and other roads.

I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for the TII under the Roads Acts, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for it.

The 150 minor improvement schemes included in the road safety strategy was an overambitious target considering the impact of the recession and the major cutbacks in funding related to it. Notwithstanding that, and the results are not satisfactory, as the Deputy has noted, the TII is maintaining an ongoing rolling programme of minor projects. To date, 42 schemes have been completed, six more are under construction and four will go to construction this year. Available funding has allowed the TII to maintain delivery on a minimum of four schemes each year and to prepare additional schemes on an ongoing basis. I understand the TII envisages continuing to undertake a minimum of four schemes a year. This will never be enough when we are talking about road deaths.

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