Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also raise the issue of road safety. We have had many tragedies on our roads in recent weeks, and particularly last weekend. It seems the Government's main effort is around reducing speed limits, which is something that certainly needs to be looked at. However, as a colleague raised earlier, enforcement is the problem. We have seen road policing numbers cut by one third. When I look at the Estimates the Government published last week and look at programme C, which is for road networks and road safety, I see a 10% cut. The budget is €150 million less than that provided for road safety last year. Many of these accidents are happening on minor roads where local authorities are looking for money to do work, remove bad bends and deal with dangerous junctions etc. They can never get enough money to do those things and yet, despite what the Taoiseach has said about the commitment of the Government to making roads safer, the budget has been cut by 10%. This needs to be examined again and that funding needs to be put in place to ensure we can keep the road safe for people to travel.

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