Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. Over recent weeks and months, people have quite rightly been concerned about road deaths.

As I stand, I think of the many great friends of mine who passed away through road traffic accidents over the last number of years, and of their families. I think of the everlasting impact a road death can have on a family and on a community. We should be mindful of them and those who are left behind, as well as those who are involved in the accidents. We should be very mindful of the tragedies out there.

Looking back over the last couple of months at the various road traffic accidents and the increase in percentages, one might ask whether there is an underlying trend or a particular issue, but there is not. We need to study it and be very careful to ensure the new regulations and laws we bring in are fit for purpose. Driver testing was debated last week and there is an issue there. We must ensure young people are getting their tests and getting onto the road as qualified drivers. Suggestions were made last week that it should be tied into second-level education and yes, education is gearing people for life and especially in rural Ireland we do not have the luxury of being without a car. Mandatory driving instruction at post-primary level is hugely important and students should have that facility. There should also be continuing education and campaigns to outline the dangers associated with driving cars, and there are dangers with it. Statements were made appealing to people ahead of this weekend to ensure they are taking road safety very seriously. Also, all of us who walk the roads, day or night, should ensure we have a high-vis jacket on so we are visible to people. That should be mandatory at this stage. There is a huge number of people walking all the time, so this is vitally important. In rural Ireland we are very reliant on the car. People spoke about public transport and the roll-out of the Local Link. There must be a real assessment of Local Link with a focus on how we are putting the best routes in place and building on the routes and the successes of the particular routes that are there. People will use them if they are efficient, effective and if they are on at the times the vast majority of people are travelling at. There is more work to be done on Local Link and getting more people.

Our road infrastructure has improved drastically over the last while, although there are some glaring examples of routes left out. The improvement of the Cork to Limerick road is a priority not just for the area I represent in north Cork, but also for linking the two cities and taking the dangers out of Buttevant and Charleville. Earlier this year people lost their lives, tragically, on the main street in Charleville. We have been engaging with Cork County Council and TII to take a number of steps to make it safer, including tabletop surfaces as traffic comes into the town, but also looking at a relief road in the interim before the bypass itself is built. That bypass will have to be built. It was stopped almost a decade ago and it is now time to move it forward. There is movement on it, but we need to ensure it is there because as our population continues to grow the regions are going to be the hugely important enablers of that growth and so there is fierce need for it.

In TII and the Departments we have an issue with the Mallow relief road. That is a hugely important piece of infrastructure. If we are to talk about road safety, we must ensure we are providing the infrastructure as well, and not just in the cities, which many of the discussions have been about, but also in the provincial towns, including the likes of Mallow, Buttevant and Charleville. In those places we must ensure we have the best possible infrastructure in place. The plans have been in place for many decades and it is time to implement them. I am delighted we have the senior Minister here so we can impress on him the urgency of advancing the M20 and the Mallow relief road. These are hugely important pieces of the jigsaw because if we are serious about road safety, everybody must be working together. We must have the education piece and the qualification piece and driver testing must be on time. The instinct of mankind when there is something wrong is to go for enforcement and the iron fist to try to crack down on it. We must be the great enablers. We must ensure we are selling the message with road safety and getting the message through to all people that there are dangers on the roads and they must make every effort to ensure they are safe, whether driving, walking or cycling.

That brings me to many of the fantastic cycle lanes that have been developed across the country. More of them should be rolled out. The Newmarket-Kanturk route on the old railway line should be investigated and looked at. The Minister will know Newmarket due to his roots, but it is important that the plan is there and it is advanced. All these things help. Every single thing helps, no matter how small it is. We looked at the proposed legislation, the challenges there and bringing forward reductions in speed. Sometimes when the discussion on road safety is being held, the question is asked about whether we are rushing too far with speed, but everything counts. The great issue is to ensure everybody understands the challenges that are there for road safety. People in my own family, but also very good friends of mine have, over the years, lost their lives as a result of road traffic collisions and we have seen the devastation that has left in those families. It is important we honour those people by ensuring the best possible system is in place and we are not just penalising one cohort of people. We should have a broad range of measures so each citizen of the country, in urban Ireland or especially in my area of Duhallow and north Cork, feels they have the infrastructure in place and everything is geared to try to make our roads as safe as possible. Education from a very young age is part of that. We have seen the various campaigns on other issues over many generations and how they have changed attitudes. Back in my youth there was the safe cross code. That same punch is not there in the form of information and making sure people understand the challenges.

Those are the issues. On driver testing wait times, it is very difficult for somebody who is aged 18 and has all the stuff done to be waiting six to eight months, or maybe more, for a test. That needs to be addressed in the short term. There is also a need for further engagement on the availability of Local Link. Then there are the two big pieces of infrastructure. The M20 Cork to Mallow motorway will open up a whole sector of the community and eliminate the safety concerns on the streets of Charleville and Buttevant. The Mallow relief road must also be progressed in the Department as soon as humanly possible.

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