Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien is at the Cabinet meeting so he cannot be here. He would like to be here.

In my previous remarks, I outlined the roles of TII and the local authorities, which are significant in all this. It is important that people work with TII and the local authorities on this. The Department is already doing so. It is important that we provide speed limits that will improve safety for all road users and that is what is happening. The Government is confident that the new limits will help to reduce the number of deaths on our roads, which grew alarmingly after the pandemic. That is a fact. While there was a slight decrease in the number of lives lost on our roads in 2024 in comparison with 2023, it is vital we continue to build on that and do our part to ensure fewer lives are lost this year. If we are to reach our goal of vision zero by 2050, which is also a European objective, all road users must come together and drive safely. It is our duty as citizens to take responsibility for our actions and reduce the chance of death or serious injury. Every death has a devastating effect on families and communities and we must minimise the chance of them occurring.

The Department of Transport, along with Cork County Council in the case of the Deputy's constituency, will review the roll-out of phase 1 of the safer default speed limits, prior to implementing phases 2 and 3. This iterative approach will allow us to learn from each implementation phase, helping to deliver a smooth and measured approach to the other phases. This was all legislated for in Dáil Éireann. The whole system was passed by the Dáil in the Road Traffic Act 2024.

The Minister for Transport has asked us to thank his officials, the local authorities, the Road Safety Authority, members of An Garda Síochána and other key stakeholders who all worked hard to deliver the recent changes on local roads and thereby increase safety for road users. The Government is committed to ensuring that we deliver a multifaceted approach to reducing road fatalities and serious injuries on the path to vision zero.

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