Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I speak today on an issue impacting on every community in Ireland but that is particularly urgent in my area, County Limerick. Every year, we see the devastating impact of road collisions on families, friends and communities. Nationally, 2024 was one of the worst years of road fatalities in almost a decade. Unfortunately, Limerick was no exception. Behind every statistic is a life lost, a family grieving and a community shaken.

The roads in rural Ireland, and especially in Limerick, pose unique challenges. Many of our roads are narrow, with poor visibility, inadequate lighting and, in some cases, dangerous surfaces due to a lack of maintenance. Speeding, reckless driving and drink- and drug-driving remain persistent problems, as does the increase in the use of mobile phones while driving. I acknowledge the work done by An Garda Síochána and the road safety campaigners, who do their best to educate and enforce the law. However, enforcement alone will not solve the crisis. We need a multifaceted approach, one that involves investment in infrastructure, stronger penalties for dangerous driving and a serious commitment to road safety education at an early age.In County Limerick, we have seen too many tragic incidents on roads such as the N21 and the N69, and on many of our rural and regional roads. There is an urgent need for increased road maintenance funding to fix dangerous sections of these roads before they claim more lives. We also need a greater Garda presence on rural roads to deter reckless driving, traffic calming measures in high-risk areas, particularly near schools and residential zones, and more investment in public transport so that people, especially young people, in rural areas have safer alternatives to driving at night.

I also call on the Minister of State to ensure our road safety strategy priorities include rural communities. It is unacceptable that people living in rural Ireland feel less safe on the road simply because of where they live. We owe it to the families who have lost loved ones to act with urgency. Road safety should not be reactive; we should be proactive and it should be a year-round priority for the Government, the councils and communities.

I want to make a point on the hedge cutting that takes place on rural roads. It tends to stop at a certain height. I have spoken to many HGV drivers whose issue is they still have to stay out from the margin of the road. They drive in the middle of the road because the hedge cutting is not done high enough to protect their mirrors. To protect the mirrors of the lorries, they drive in the middle of the road. I ask the Minister of State to have a look at getting the hedge cutting done to particular height to cover this.