Results 501-520 of 1,016,975 for in 'Dáil debates' OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton in 'Committee meetings'
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Pádraig O'Sullivan: I would like to make two fundamental points. Just before I do so, I would like to raise what concerns me most as a person who makes the six-hour round trip from Cork to Dublin and back most weeks, with one leg on a Tuesday and the other on a Thursday. The number of people who use a mobile phone when driving, be it in traffic or going down the motorway at 100 km/h or 120 km/h, is scary. So...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank the Minister of State. As we know, the number of road fatalities has increased significantly in recent years. There were 188 in 2023, the highest number since 2014, when the number was 192. Already in 2024, up to yesterday, there were 63 compared to 49 this time last year. This is really worrying. The total number of collisions is up 58 this year compared with 45 at this time...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Deputy Mattie McGrath is sharing with his colleagues.
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Mattie McGrath: We do not have much time on this. The RSA is not fit for purpose, nor is TII. They are too rigid and there is too much bureaucracy. We are trying to have speed limits reduced at dangerous junctions. We are supposed to have got rid of the NRA but I do not believe we have. We decommissioned the IRA and we are stuck with the NRA. It is impossible to talk to and will not listen to...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Peadar Tóibín: Road deaths are rising because the Government is failing to employ gardaí. That is a stark fact and it must be addressed. The reply to an Aontú parliamentary question indicated there were 1,046 road traffic gardaí in 2009, compared with just over 600 today. That is a collapse of 40%. Drink driving is no longer a source of stigma in many parts of the country because people...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Michael Lowry: A total of 16 people lost their lives on roads in Tipperary last year. This was more than double the number who died on the county's roads the previous year, making Tipperary the county with the highest number of road fatalities in 2023. Nationally, fatalities occurred across all categories of road users, including drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and pedestrians. Sadly,...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Matt Shanahan: In the past decade, we have seen more cars on the roads and more younger drivers. In addition, those younger drivers are driving more powerful cars because it is no longer possible to insure older cars. This is an issue the Government should examine. Years ago, parents could buy their children a banger in which they could not go over 30 km/h or 40 km/h. Now they can get into a modern car...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Christopher O'Sullivan: I am sharing time with Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan. I thank the Minister of State for attending the debate on this very serious issue. I will focus on one aspect of road safety in my constituency of Cork South-West, namely, road conditions. As I have pointed out time and again in the Chamber, Cork county has not been getting an allocation for road funding in recent years that reflects...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Peadar Tóibín: It is enforcement.
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Brian Leddin: Enforcement is critically important. I agree with Deputy Tóibín. It has to be addressed. I welcome Commissioner Harris' recent initiative to increase enforcement on our roads. Others in this House talked about the Road Safety Authority and whether it is fit for purpose. I am inclined to think that as it is currently constituted, it is not. Its remit can certainly be looked...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Mairead Farrell: We are all thinking of the families who have been bereaved by the roads. As the Minister of State is very well aware, we had a number of tragedies that affected Galway families recently. All our thoughts are with those families and their loved ones. Over the course of this debate and those we have had over the last number of weeks, we heard of many different ways in which we can tackle...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Anois, an Teachta Fitzpatrick is sharing his time with Deputies Tóibín, Lowry and Shanahan.
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Peter Fitzpatrick: As recently as five years ago, Ireland was being celebrated within the EU for its road safety. Yet, in 2024, it is on course to prove the most lethal for traffic fatalities in 15 years. An alarming trend is in the disproportionate number of young people aged between 16 to 25 years who are involved in road fatalities. Speeding and intoxicated drivers are contributing to dozens of fatalities...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Seán Crowe: People Before Profit has six and a half minutes.
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Paul Murphy: I will speak for four and a half minutes or so and Deputy Barry will use the rest. It is about time we had a debate on the record of the RSA because it has become a sick joke. I wholeheartedly agree with the more than 30 road safety, cycling and pedestrian campaign groups that have stated that they have lost confidence in the authority because of the sharp increase in road deaths. They...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Mick Barry: There is huge concern about the increased number of deaths on our roads with many of those who have died being young. Is it a issue of individual responsibility or of society not doing what could and should be done? Important issues of personal responsibility are involved. No one is denying that, but if I read the comments made by some Ministers in recent days carefully, I see an attempt...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Brian Leddin: I relayed this personal story to the Minister of State in the past. My family, like thousands of families, has been impacted by tragedy on our roads in the years and decades gone by. I never knew my grandfather on my mother's side. He was killed when cycling on Mulgrave Street in Limerick before I was born. I wish I had known him. He was by all accounts a good and impressive man....
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Martin Browne: We need an all-round approach to road safety to reverse the worrying trend of road deaths we have seen recently. The last time I spoke about this, in February, I drew attention to the fact that the manned deterrent on the roads needs to be increased, yet the ability to provide that increased Garda presence is hamstrung by the shortage of available gardaí. This was pointedly outlined in...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Paul Donnelly: I welcome the recent Garda action against scramblers and quads in Tallaght, Ballymun and Limerick. However, it is just a drop in the ocean in terms of the problems and dangers on the roads that these vehicles, which mostly young people drive, pose. Two weeks ago, I was cycling up Dame Street and watched as three scramblers came down the street on one wheel. That is one of the main streets...
- Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)
Ruairi Ó Murchú: Yes.