Seanad debates

Tuesday, 23 May 2006

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Committee Stage.

 

7:00 pm

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I appreciate what the Minister of State and Senator Quinn have said but this is about getting information. The road safety authority must have information because otherwise it will be at nothing. Driver testing is a major issue. The way it is being operated calls out for something to be done.

I was a member of a local authority for many years and all councillors can recite the dangerous stretches of road in their areas off the tops of their heads. Local authorities have a role but is there not a role for the road safety authority in areas where crashes, fatal or otherwise, are commonplace? Will the road safety authority get its information from the local authorities, depending on them to send data on bad stretches of road, or will it make recommendations on roads that should be improved or must we wait for more fatalities? The road safety authority should control such issues otherwise it will be at a disadvantage as it waits for information from local authority or the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

How will this process be drawn together? I know bad stretches of road throughout the country. The Bill does not specify how the road safety authority will have any input in road improvements.

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