Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. Is onóir dom a bheith i bhur láthair do na ráitis anocht. I thank the Acting Chairperson for allowing me the opportunity to address the issue of road safety matters.

As Members know full well, travel is an essential component of social and economic life. It needs to be available, accessible, sustainable and, above all, safe. The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland. I am sad to report that as of this morning, there had been 35 fatalities on Irish roads this year. That is 35 lives lost. We offer our sympathies to the families of those who have tragically lost their lives. While this statistic marks an improvement of almost 30% on the same period last year, each statistic is a person who is a member of a family in a community. It is a tragedy in the lives of those affected and their family, friends and wider community.

As Members will be aware, the four causes of road fatalities are speeding, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt and intoxicated driving, all of which come down to driver behaviour and personal responsibility on the part of the road user. Speeding remains one of the greatest risk factors on our roads. One in four drivers thinks that speeding by 10 km/h or more over the limit is acceptable. The Road Traffic Act 2024 legislated for safer default speed limits on various parts of Ireland's road network. On 7 February, new default limits of 60 km/h came into effect on rural and local roads. Further phases will seek to implement safer default limits on national secondary roads and urban roads.

High levels of mobile phone usage by drivers in Ireland have been reported.Research indicates that approximately one in four motorists are not only checking their phone but writing messages while driving. Worryingly, research also carried out by the University of Galway among young drivers found that many use their mobile phones while driving in an habitual manner and most believe there is no risk at all of being caught doing so. This is a dangerous norm we must not allow to take hold on our roads.

Members will know that in a nationally representative survey conducted last year, 11% of motorists said they had driven after consuming an alcoholic drink and 1% of motorists said they had driven after consuming illicit drugs in the past 12 months. The Road Traffic Act 2024, signed into law last April, and the subsequent introduction of mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions in May was a systemic intervention in relation to drug driving. Drivers should be aware that gardaí throughout the country can now rapidly test for the presence of drugs and drugs can stay in your system many times longer than alcohol.

In the most recent observation study conducted last year in 2024, 97% of drivers and 96% of passengers were observed wearing their seat belt. These high rates are encouraging, particularly for rear seat passengers, who have historically lagged drivers and front seat passengers in terms of seat belt usage. The lifesaving importance of seat belt wearing is underlined by the fact that despite only small percentages of people not wearing their seat belt, those same people make up a disproportionate share of the drivers and passengers killed each year, at approximately one in five.

To help address these dangerous driving behaviours and deliver improved safety on our roads, the Government's road safety strategy, published in 2021, aligns with international best practice, EU targets and the Vision Zero ambition for 2050. It aims to reduce roads deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030 and achieve Vision Zero, no deaths or serious injuries on Irish roads, by 2050. Notable achievements since the launch of the strategy include publication of the speed limit review, updating of the national cycle manual and the passage of the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 and Road Traffic Act 2024. My Department, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, are leading the development of the phase 2 action plan under the strategy, which will run from this year to 2027. This plan will be adopted shortly and will set out further high impact actions which will contribute to Ireland achieving its goal of reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2030 and achieving Vision Zero.

The Government is committed to commencing the remaining provisions in the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023. As an example, from the end of March, insurers will be permitted to access endorsements on driving licences, meaning that if someone is renewing their insurance, insurers will be able to see if the person has penalty points. I also support the important work to bring provisions contained in the Road Traffic Act 2024 into effect. This Act, as Members will know, is concise and focused legislation that seeks to respond in a robust and systemic way to the trends we have witnessed on our roads over recent years.

The legislation addressed a number of key areas of road safety concern in response to the concerning rise in drug-driving. The Act introduced mandatory drug testing at the scene of a serious collision on the same basis as alcohol. To increase the deterrent effects of penalty points, the Act introduces a major reform of the system first introduced in 2002. Presently, a driver caught committing multiple penalty point offences on the same occasion receives only one set of penalty points. In future, drivers will receive at least two sets of penalty points and potentially more in the event of an unsuccessful court challenge where three or more offences have been detected. This important reform will encourage safer driving behaviours and vehicle maintenance standards across the range of penalty point offences.

The next provision of this Act to be commenced in the coming days will close a loophole by which some drivers have been able to avoid automatic six-month disqualifications through the accumulation of penalty points by judges imposing short, ancillary disqualifications, in some cases for as little as a single day.

Looking ahead, the programme for Government calls for the introduction of graduated driving penalties and speed awareness courses as an alternative sanction for those caught speeding. The Department, the Ministers and I are fully intent on bringing forward legislation to enable these measures as well as legislation that will remove data protection barriers to local authorities directly receiving collision data, thereby strengthening the legal underpinnings for access to data on the national vehicle and driver file and provide for abolition of the requirement for paper motor tax, insurance and roadworthiness disks. The Department of Transport is continuing condition analysis on regional and local roads on behalf of local authorities using datasets received from the Road Safety Authority. Locations of interest are notified to each local authority and the Department invites applications for low-cost safety schemes towards the end of each year for targeted funding and implementation the following year. In 2023 and 2024, some 302 and 261 low-cost safety schemes, respectively, were approved for funding. In 2023, approximately 5,000 km of local roads were strengthened and maintained at an Exchequer investment of €324 million. This vital investment assists in maintaining and improving safety on the local road network, which constitutes the majority of roads in our country.

Last year, an additional €30 million was also made available to local authorities for rehabilitation of the regional and local road network in response to prolonged rainfall, which adversely affected the road network. In 2025, there is an Exchequer investment of €713 million for regional and local roads across the State, which represents an increase of over 8% in funding this year. The main focus of the grants continues to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network.

On national roads, the priority for TII is the maintenance of the network to ensure it is kept to a safe and robust standard. This involves carrying out extensive analysis of the network to identify high-risk locations through an analysis of collision data and also through inspections. Last year, increased funding of approximately €30 million was made available for protection and renewal to support safety and improvement schemes such as junction improvement and road segregation on national roads.

Since April of last year, there has been increased visibility from An Garda Síochána at the roadside with the introduction of 30 minutes of roads policing per shift for all uniformed members. I also welcome that the 20% increase in the hours of deployment of GoSafe vans, which was first announced in September 2023, has now been extended to October of this year. In recent months, An Garda Síochána has also deployed three new average-speed zones in Mayo, Cavan and Meath. This technology has proven a great deterrent to excessive speed wherever it has been deployed both in Ireland and internationally. In addition to these immediate camera measures, TII is leading the development of a comprehensive national camera strategy for publication later this year, which will establish the framework for investment in the development of our camera enforcement capacity. This strategy will also consider the use of cameras for purposes beyond speeding, such as identifying mobile phone use and non-wearing of seatbelts.

Last year, the Department commissioned an external independent review of the Road Safety Authority. On 5 November, the Government approved publication of the review and noted the proposal to reform the Road Safety Authority into two independent external bodies. These two bodies will be an operations-focused driver and a vehicle standards agency to deliver services such as driver testing and the NCT, and a new body to lead the State's promotional, educational and awareness campaign for road safety. A departmental group led by the Department and comprising relevant stakeholders is progressing this important reform.

I thank the Acting Chairperson and Members for having this important debate tonight. It is a matter of extreme importance and I am glad the Seanad is having this debate. I look forward to hearing the contributions and suggestions from Members.