Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This morning I attended a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications which was addressed by the assistant Garda Commissioner, Mr. John Twomey. He instanced that changes to road traffic legislation have led to a significant improvement in road safety since 2005, when there were 396 road deaths as compared with 195 in 2014. That means there has been a reduction of more than 50% between 2005 and last year. Despite recent increases in 2013 and 2014, there has been a reduction in fatalities, with 50 deaths on Irish road to date this year, a decrease of 13 over the same period last year.

Without doubt, road safety is critical. In my opinion, and as stated by the assistant commissioner, we must all take responsibility for the issue. I hope the number of fatalities can be reduced further. I commend the Garda on its efforts to reduce the number of fatalities on the roads. I call for a debate in the Seanad on how we, as a body, can help reduce further the number of fatalities on the roads of this country.