Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a theacht anseo inniu. Is gá obair a dhéanamh ar na spotaí is measa de bhóithre náisiúnta na tíre. Rinne Gamma Location Intelligence anailís ar na spotaí seo bunaithe ar eolas a chuir Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, ar fáil agus aisteach go leor, bhí ocht gcinn de na spotaí sin ar bhóthar amháin i gConamara. Tá sé in am breathnú ar an liosta, tosú ag a bharr agus rud éigin a dhéanamh faoin 20 bóthar is measa sa tír. Táim ag súil go mbeidh dea-scéal ag an Aire dom maidir leis seo, go gcuirfidh an Roinn ciste ar fáil, agus go mbeidh ceangail ar TII an t-airgead sin a chaitheamh ar na spotaí agus na bóithre seo.

On 23 September, Gamma Location Intelligence published an analysis of TII data which identified the worst accident black spots in the country. It gives us an insight into which roads in our national network are deficient. The analysis only applies to national primary and secondary routes. It identified that the worst roads are clustered in counties Galway, Wexford and Longford. Eight of the 20 worst stretches of road are on the N59 in County Galway, with another just across the border in County Mayo.

The road from Aasleagh Falls to Recess had nine of the worst accident black spots on national roads in the country. The spread of the 20 worst locations was: eight in Galway; four in Clare; two in Cork; one in Longford; one in Wexford; one in Mayo; one in Waterford; one in Leitrim; and one in Tipperary.

I believe in objective decision-making based on evidence and good data. The data are clear here. It is an impeccable source of data, which is used by insurance companies and anybody who is interested in this issue and wants good data. Will the Minister provide dedicated funding to TII next year and instruct it, as a matter of high-level policy, that it should tackle these accident black spots, starting with the 20 worst first and then working systematically through a long list of roads? I believe some of them could be resolved with quite modest amounts of money. Others will require more. It is interesting to look at the national map and see that there is a big cluster of black spots on the national secondary routes. They are very deficient but not very expensive to upgrade. Then there is a little cluster around the rest of the country.

Will the Minister take responsibility and save lives? He is always talking about saving lives on the roads. Now that we know where the worst accident black spots are, will he act and do something about it?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this important subject. He has produced some extremely useful information and I have always said that I am happy to consider anything that is evidence based and bears scrutiny and to refer it to the appropriate people for consideration. I will not dismiss out of hand what he has produced today because it is too serious a subject. It appears to be credible evidence in a certain area. I cannot comment on competing data or interpretations that come forward, nor will I. I will certainly ask those who are responsible for considering it and acting accordingly to take it very seriously and to make decisions taking the Gamma Location Intelligence information into consideration.

First, I must explain that, as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and securing capital funding for the national roads programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, the improvement, upgrading and maintenance of individual roads is a matter for the relevant road authority in respect of local and regional roads or for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned, in respect of national roads. In the overall context of Project Ireland 2040, the National Development Plan 2018 to 2027 has been developed by the Government to underpin the successful implementation of the national planning framework. This provides the strategic and financial framework for TIl's national roads programme for the period from 2018 to 2027. In the ten years covered by the plan, over €11 billion will be invested in the overall road network. Following the economic downturn and the subsequent reduction in the availability of Exchequer funding, Project Ireland 2040 now provides for the gradual build up in funding for the roads network, but it will take time to restore funding to the levels needed to maintain the road network in a steady state condition, and allow for investment in new road improvement schemes.

Each year, the safety section of TII carries out a collision analysis of the national road network, in compliance with the EU road infrastructure safety management directive. The purpose of this exercise is to identify locations that have high concentrations of collisions. Notwithstanding this, the absence of sites from the locations identified in the analysis exercise does not preclude a road authority from submitting a feasibility report to TIl for safety improvement works at other locations on the national or secondary road network. For example, there may be additional information available to the road authority or there may be unreported collisions at a location of which TIl is unaware.

TII assesses the current condition and performance of the network, considering aspects such as capacity, traffic volumes, level of service, road pavement condition and condition of structures and safety. For TIl to consider proposals from local authorities, the road authority is required to: carry out an analysis of the collision history at the location; design an appropriate scheme to deal with the safety issues identified; carry out an economic appraisal of the proposal; and to fully cost the scheme and prioritise it with regard to other works being proposed by the road authority. TII implements a programme of minor improvement schemes on the road network. These schemes are aimed at addressing localised safety issues by improving alignment, cross section and capacity issues. While funding is not specifically ring-fenced for the safety schemes programme, the following sums have been allocated for the years 2019 and 2020. In 2019 an allocation of €20 million was provided for the safety programme and it is proposed to allocate a provision of €21.6 million for the 2020 programme. These allocations do not include safety related funding provisions under other capital programmes.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The definition of "responsibility for overall policy" has changed dramatically since the Minister was appointed. It seems to me that he is simply the begging bowl for funding but that he does not dictate the policy. What is the point in having an Oireachtas and a Government elected by the Dáil if they do not outline the policy? I do not expect the Minister to choose the individual road, but I expect him to save lives. I am always interested in economic appraisals. This is a scientific study. The Minister spoke about validating the information. This information comes from TII data. That is the State agency under the Minister's Department with responsibility for road infrastructure and certain rail infrastructure such as the Luas. It provided the data and all Gamma Location Intelligence did was map it.

Accidents are constantly reported in my area. We find that one stretch of road has the number one black spot in the country, as well as the number four and number eight. There were eight in the top 20 and they are on one road. When the Minister tells me that people's safety is not an absolute overriding priority, I am very surprised because he has brought in law after law with the argument that he is saving lives. Will the Minister ensure that priority is given to starting with the top 20 accident locations in the country and that there will be adequate finance? As I said, some of these will not be expensive to resolve. Will money be provided as a priority to deal with these? We know that where roads are improved, and the ultimate example is the motorways, the accident rate per million vehicle kilometres travelled decreases dramatically. Will the Minister push it away again as if he has no responsibility for this or will he take action?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I wish to make it clear that road safety and saving lives are the top priority as far as I am concerned when addressing this subject. To suggest that I should, and the Deputy named particular roads-----

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I did not. The company did.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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He identified particular roads in his initial speech. He named the N59, if I am correct.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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And other roads. I named it because it happened to come up.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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He named particular roads. He says he is not expecting me to interfere with any particular roads and then he names particular roads as black spots where I should be interfering.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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If they are in Stepaside, he deals with them.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Order, please.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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What the Deputy is talking about is not relevant to this debate. What I have to do is follow Government policy, which is that road safety remains a top priority, of course it does. What I said earlier is that I will not interfere with every individual road or individual black spot. Were I to do that, I would be running around the country doing it in my own constituency and other constituencies, and not doing something where I have actually allocated expertise in other places. I have, of course, asked TII to do what it is doing. The Deputy knows perfectly well we have allocated €20 million or €21 million in consecutive years specifically to save lives, and TII is doing that, and is doing a very efficient job.

I have to and will ask people far more expert than am I, and far more independent than the Deputy or I am, to make the decisions as to where this money will be allocated and where safety has a priority. That is what they are doing. I accept the Deputy's bona fides in coming to the House and looking after his own particular region and constituency. There is no doubt about his bona fides and I respect him for that. However, I cannot allow Members to come in here, say that a road in their area is less safe than another and that TII is doing a bad job. What I am going to do is continue to allocate money to the experts on road safety and to allocate what I think is a sufficient amount.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Here is the map.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Deputy is pointing out particular roads to me.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am pointing that eight out of 20 black spots are on one road. The Minister should listen to what I am saying.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Order, please. We cannot have that debate. Please allow the Minister to conclude.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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What I will do, because of the great respect I have for the Deputy's contributions to this House, is refer what he has said and the data he has produced, albeit from a particularly narrow standpoint, to TII for consideration, as well as to those who have an expertise on this issue, which he and I do not have.