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

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. As we start, there is not a family in the country that has not been affected in some way by road deaths. We are no different from that. The context of this Bill is the increase in road deaths over the last while and the terrible trauma that is inflicted on the family, the person who loses their life and the consequences of that. We have to sympathise, in the first instance. We also have to say that we need to bring forward rules and regulations in a data-based context to ensure that we have important legislation underpinning and encouraging road safety.

I meet many people across the country. They talk about the challenges they face and the communities that have lost people. We need to have greater awareness of a number of issues. That has to start with the basics in schools, primary schools and secondary schools to educate young people on the dangers of motor-propelled vehicles and the responsibility that all of us have when we take to the wheel and the roads, not only for ourselves but for the wider community.

An awful lot of good work has been done on that but, unfortunately, road deaths have increased. Looking at any of the statistics around specific road deaths, it is a challenge to say what went wrong or what the issue was that caused those deaths. We cannot just finger-point. We have to create a proper environment within the national psyche whereby we are talking to everybody about improved recognition of the challenges being faced on Irish roads, including the increase in population, and the increase in car numbers and people travelling on the roads, and the consequences of that.

I am concerned about a number of issues, including TII reports on an increase in funding for infrastructural projects that will reduce the challenges in respect of dangerous junctions throughout the country. I understand that a budget is provided every year by the TII for specific, dangerous junctions and challenges around road safety issues. That budget has to be increased. Very serious recognition must be made by the Department and TII, right down to local authority level, to make sure they eliminate the challenges with dangerous junctions. Some of them have been around for quite some time. We saw the excellent work done by Cork County Council and TII, in co-operation, on Ballymaquirk junction last year. People talked about the massive improvement the work has had on that junction. That can be replicated throughout the country. It is very important that funding is provided. That is one part of the equation. Funding has to be provided to address the issues in that regard.

Issues have developed as regards driver behaviour. A lot of work has been done to try to educate people. We now have a drive to make sure road deaths are reduced to zero. That is a very challenging issue. The Bill is part of it. It is also important there is a common-sense approach to any of the changes in the speed limits. They should be provided for and supported by data and information, not just at a national level but on a regional and local level. Where decisions are being made to reduce the speed limits, particularly from 80 km/h to 60 km/h, they should be based on fact and there should be information to show that this is the right thing to do. If there is no such information, we have to acknowledge the difference and say, "No. That it is not the right decision on this occasion", depending on the roads. Public consultation, public engagement and the launch of a public information campaign have been spoken about. It is important, within all our communities, that TII, local authority management, the Department and public representatives engage with local people and ask what the concerns and challenges they face are.

A lot of the time, ideas or the way to resolve particular issues can come from local communities. For example, we have seen that intersections between regional roads and national secondary roads can be dangerous junctions that have been there a long time. It is important, however, that we make sure we do not throw out the baby with the bathwater, that we have a common-sense approach to changes that are made, and there is consultation locally and nationally. If we do not do that, we will alienate people. The most important ingredient in all of this, and how we go about reducing road deaths, is to make sure that we have buy-in from local communities, that they understand what we are doing, and it is not a case of a rule being made and the concerns or issues of local communities being disregarded.

Throughout our communities over the past 20 years, local communities came together to fundraise for CCTV cameras. Those cameras were put up on a voluntary basis, but there is still a logjam between the Department of Justice and local authorities as to who the data collector is, or who the people who control the data are. That legal issue has not been resolved. GDPR and all the other issues need to be resolved because CCTV is a powerful tool in the collection of data and a deterrent to make sure the rules are enforced. For many of the rules of the road we are talking about, enforcement is much more important than changing the goalposts or the rules. If enforcement was there, it would be a deterrent. We need a cohesive approach to enforcement and education, starting very young in outlining what the challenges are when people go behind the wheel of a car.

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