Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Ross, for coming to the Chamber to answer my questions. In fairness to him, we do not always see eye to eye but he always comes in to deal with the issues I raise and I acknowledge that.

I want to raise two issues regarding our road network that I feel are absolute priorities and I have raised them previously. I raised some of these issues at the Committee of Public Accounts regarding the spending of public funds and I also raised them at the transport committee. I presume the Minister is well aware of the strategy of the Road Safety Authority, RSA, for 2013 to 2020. I am a big supporter of the Road Safety Authority. I welcome that the Minister finally made appointments to the board recently. I support the work of its chairman, Liz O'Donnell, and her team. Among the engineering measures in its seven-year plan, one of the most important is No. 53, which I have raised on several occasions. No 53 of the engineering measures to save people's lives is to carry out 150 minor realignment schemes on the national road network by 2020. I asked Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, about this on a number of occasions and it is going to meet me to discuss it. It has told me it does not have a hope of making that figure. At most it may reach 60 and more likely 50. This means there are 100 black spots throughout the country where there will be no improvement in safety. When I asked Michael Nolan, the very impressive CEO, what will the consequence of this be and whether people would die on the roads, his answer was a very simple "Yes".

The Minister has spoken an awful lot about road safety and, in fairness, I accept his bona fides. I do not always agree with some of the points he makes but I accept his bona fides. I want the Minister to support the Road Safety Authority and ensure he can provide the funding for all 150 of these, or least double from 50 to 100 the number of minor road safety projects the RSA has identified to save people's lives. If this work is not done, the head of Transport Infrastructure Ireland has told me to my face that people will die in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The reason I ask about this today is because the capital plan will be announced in the coming weeks or months and the Minister has the chance to put funding into it.

I encourage the Minister to work with the TII to look at safety measures on the M7. There has been an escalation of accidents between Roscrea and Birdhill. People have died. I knew them. May they rest in peace. There are safety issues such as why the Roscrea and the Moneygall on-and-off ramps are shorter, sharper junctions than the long junctions to be found everywhere else on the motorway? They are causing difficulties. I argue there is an engineering issue near Birdhill. Will the Minister ask the TII, and provide the funding, to do an analysis of what is happening, given all the accidents there, as well as giving us assurances he is 100% behind the Road Safety Authority in saving lives between now and 2020 by providing the funding it has asked for and planned for in its strategy, which the Minister 100% supports?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Kelly for raising this very important issue and I share his great concern for road safety. If we come to the problem with different attitudes and different solutions that is no harm. He referred to road deaths, and every one is a serious tragedy which cannot be in any way redeemed or reversed. It should be tackled from very many angles. There is absolutely no one solution to road safety, and the issue on which Deputy Kelly has put his finger today is undoubtedly one of the problems and undoubtedly, the TII has a big role to play in it.

I reassure Deputy Kelly that the high-level committee on road safety has meetings on a far more regular basis now, and on every occasion I ask the TII in particular how it is doing in its programme on saving lives, road safety and tackling accident black spots. Let me say in response, that whatever response it gives me will never be sufficient, just as whenever I see the result of the - happily - falling road death figures at present, as a number, it is not satisfactory either.

Every suggestion and proposal which is put and every item of legislation on this issue will be seriously considered, as will the suggestion Deputy Kelly has made today. If we can do any more, we will do so. Simultaneously, Deputy Kelly will acknowledge the Government, and the Government of which he was a member, are and were second to none in terms of their commitment to this issue and the legislation is there to prove it. The legislation to tackle road deaths, which is primarily my job to introduce to the House, has included an attack on drug-driving and drink-driving, and I hope this year we will also be able to introduce an attack on speed. I hope this will save more lives and I hope the projects to which Deputy Kelly referred will be addressed with enthusiasm and energy and will also save lives. Our ambition, of course, is to bring the numbers down to zero. That will probably never happen, but there is huge room for improvement and it applies to the M7 and other roads.

I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for the TII under the Roads Acts, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for it.

The 150 minor improvement schemes included in the road safety strategy was an overambitious target considering the impact of the recession and the major cutbacks in funding related to it. Notwithstanding that, and the results are not satisfactory, as the Deputy has noted, the TII is maintaining an ongoing rolling programme of minor projects. To date, 42 schemes have been completed, six more are under construction and four will go to construction this year. Available funding has allowed the TII to maintain delivery on a minimum of four schemes each year and to prepare additional schemes on an ongoing basis. I understand the TII envisages continuing to undertake a minimum of four schemes a year. This will never be enough when we are talking about road deaths.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I thank the Minister. I have no doubt of his sincerity but we need more than hope. I do not want to be in a situation where in years to come or after a short space of time I will be playing back this video to the Minister and others. If there is not serious consideration of the manner in which the on-off ramps in Roscrea and Moneygall work, as well as an examination of what is happening in Birdhill, which is also something strange, people will die on the M7. I believe that will happen in the near future. It is subject to some weather patterns because it is inland, but there are definitely engineering issues. I ask the Minister to please consult the TII and provide it with the funding. It is one of the busiest routes in Ireland. It is the gateway to the south of Ireland. Everyone knows the turnoff for the Barack Obama Plaza and many people go into it.

Birdhill provides access to a range of areas on the west coast. Roscrea and Templemore are on the same road. I ask the Minister to please look at those.

The Minister has admitted that the identification of 150 road safety projects in the Road Safety Authority strategy is overly ambitious. Will the Minister provide a figure in respect of what will be built by 2020? There are 42 projects being done and there is not a hope in hell of getting to 150. As a result of this and the lack of funding, people will die. I am going to examine the 150 projects with TII in the coming weeks. They will be evaluated on the basis of priority and safety. That means some will miss out. How many will miss out and what is the estimated cost in lives as a result of the funding not being provided by the Government?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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To set a target that would be a hostage to fortune - as was the case with the previous one - would just be foolish. If the Deputy does not question the commitment of TII or the Government to the saving of lives, he can rest assured that the absolute maximum will be done to deal with those black spots to which he refers. TII's commitment is not in doubt-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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I never questioned TII's commitment.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Recently, many efforts have been made to address the problem mentioned by the Deputy. In particular, TII recognises the potential benefits of changing to a new fence type on the road in question, where appropriate, and, as the Deputy knows, it is working with Tipperary County Council in this regard. TII has commenced a programme of fencing maintenance along the M7 that will involve the replacement of significant lengths of timber post-and-rail fencing. It is envisaged completion of the works to comply with new fencing standards will be achieved on the M7 in Tipperary by mid 2018. TII is progressing with the programme of works to extend similar fencing alterations to all motorways during 2018. It should be noted that the traditional timber post-and-rail fencing can continue to be used at locations sufficiently remote from traffic lanes and protected from potential vehicle strikes, as determined in accordance with design standards.

I welcome the Deputy's interventions. He must know that TII is acutely aware of the difficulties relating to this road. Every single black spot in the country must be addressed in due course. Every single drunk driver must be caught. These are our ambitions and they are for one purpose alone, namely, to save lives. That is my top priority. Any interventions or suggestions made by the Deputy to or pressure exerted by him on not only me but also TII are more than welcome.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The next matter is in the name of Deputy Mattie McGrath.

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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As láthair.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As he is not here, we will move to the next matter.