Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get this opportunity to speak on this serious matter. We commiserate with the families of all those who have died this year and in all the other years on our roads. The Minister has to realise that volumes of traffic have increased massively, especially since Covid. The state of our roads leaves an awful lot to be desired. To mention a few places, we have been calling for public lighting at the junction in Kilgarvan with the national primary road, the N22, known as Mick the Bridges. Nothing happened. There is no funding this year for the road from Blackwater Bridge to Sneem. Everything is lined up for the work to go ahead. There are several towns that were built for one horse and cart which could only go around them one at a time. It is still that way today. Many pedestrians and cyclists have been killed in the dark of night-time, not far from towns and villages, as they walked home because they were pushed out onto the road by briars that had not been cut.

There is a massive increase in the number of deaths on our roads because of people using drugs. The Government does not want to monitor that and is not able to do so. The Killarney bypass has been left for 24 years with no progress and the traffic volume has increased. The Minister of State has to realise that people are going to work and more people are travelling longer distances. The Government has this cheap-jack solution of tampering with the speed limits, thinking this will sort everything. It will not. It will cause accidents because people will get frustrated and be late for work and late coming home. They will take chances. The Government is making a big mistake. As late as it is, it should be left up to the local authorities to determine where the speed limit reduction is required. It should not be imposed ad hoc.

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