Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Road safety is a massive issue for everyone. The recent statistics on recent road deaths are absolutely frightening. In my constituency there are high-performance cars at the M3 garage in Hollywoodrath. I sympathise with those who want to show off their cars. They have taxed and insured them and they spend a lot of time and energy on them, but they are let down by idiots who drive their cars in an extremely dangerous way up and down our roads and use them as race tracks. I have met with the gardaí and I sympathise with them in trying to deal with this. We certainly need a strategy to deal with it before someone is hurt or killed.

I want to praise the gardaí in respect of the operation in Limerick regarding the scrambler issue and the seizure of more than 40 scramblers and quads. In my constituency of Dublin West we are scourged by scramblers and quads being driven dangerously on our roads and in our parks. I would love to see a similar operation being put in place in Dublin West. Some parts of the legislation have not been put in place and need to be tested. We need to do that as quickly as possible.

I recently visited Utrecht and Zwolle in Holland as part of the active travel initiative. I found it extremely interesting. What really struck me about the active travel arrangements there, particularly with regard to safe cycling and the safety of pedestrians, was how people respect each other - drivers respect cyclists, cyclists respect pedestrians - and obey the rules of the road. They do so because the rules are enforced. There is a strict rule of not breaking red lights and not putting anybody else in danger, or else there will be consequences for it. As a driver for 30 years and a recent commuter cyclist in the past five months, I can honestly say that cycling enforcement is extremely limited here. I have often travelled across the country without seeing a garda. It also struck me that the Dutch infrastructure is well thought-out. However, it has taken them 40 years to get to where they are - 40 years of planning, winning people over, engaging with people and ensuring they have buy-in. Another thing that struck me when I was cycling with a group from Fingal County Council, including councillors and other people involved in active travel, was that I saw very few people wearing helmets or high-vis jackets. They do not feel the need to do so because it is safe there and people feel safe there. I know from cycling in Dublin for the past four or five months that it is not a safe place to be.

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