Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This is an important matter. I agree that having good collision data on road traffic incidents is absolutely vital to being able to bring down the rates overall and protect people.

The Road Safety Authority, in addition to providing a number of essential services, is responsible for public awareness and education in the road safety area. It is also the body with statutory responsibility for preparing our national road safety strategies, such as the current one, which runs until 2023. The RSA is also a centre of expertise nationally on road safety and, as such, provides advice to the Department, as well as to other relevant agencies. As a result, it is essential for the RSA to be able to conduct research and analysis in the area of road safety in order to perform its function.

It is important to emphasise that the RSA does publish a great deal of statistical material and analysis on road safety matters, which can be found on its website. This is an invaluable resource for anyone concerned with the area of road safety in Ireland. I want to stress this point, lest anyone might think that the RSA is not publishing statistics on road safety. In fact, it has published a great deal and continues to do so.

However, there is one very specific and very important issue where difficulties have arisen and where the Senator is quite right to refer to section 8. The Garda conducts investigations into road traffic collisions and produces detailed collision reports. These reports provide essential information on the causes of collisions, which in turn indicates the responses needed if we are to prevent future collisions. As such, the reports of these Garda investigations play an important role in road safety research.

The RSA has, in the past, received these data from the Garda but, following a review by An Garda Síochána, queries were raised about the appropriateness of sharing the data in the light of GDPR. The reason is that some collision reports, although not all, contain personally identifiable data of living persons. Even if names are not referred to in the reports, it might be possible to combine some of these reports with publicly available data and, in effect, identify a person. An Garda Síochána wishes to continue sharing these reports with the RSA but it is understandably concerned about the GDPR implications.

Following discussions between the Garda, the RSA and the Department, it appears that a way forward may be offered by section 8(1) of the Road Safety Authority Act. This allows the Minister to direct the RSA to gather and distribute information and statistics on road safety and to distribute the information to appropriate bodies to assist with national or international planning. Since the Act was passed in 2006, there has never been any such specific direction. Discussions between the RSA, the Garda and the Department have indicated that the issuing of such a direction in relation to the collision reports may resolve the issue.

Any proposal relating to possible sharing of personal data must be subject in the first place to consultation with the Data Protection Commissioner. A draft direction under section 8 has now been prepared by the Department, which is currently engaged in a process of consultation with the Data Protection Commissioner. When this consultation is concluded and if the outcome is favourable, a direction will be signed quickly to ensure the flow of the collision reports in question. Should the Data Protection Commission, DPC, not be satisfied with this approach following consultation, the Department will have to consider other ways of resolving the matter. This would most likely involve an amendment to the Road Safety Authority Act 2006.