Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

I want to raise the urgent matter of road safety outside Dunkineely National School, in my locality. There has been a lack of progress on implementing traffic calming measures which have been repeatedly called for by local representatives, parents and gardaí. The school is located on the N56, a busy national secondary road that has had multiple near misses recently. The speed in the school zone is unacceptable and children, parents and staff are at risk at drop-offs and pick-ups. I have repeatedly raised this issue and I have called for an update from TII, but have received vague responses about ongoing reports. It has now emerged that funding for the road safety improvement may not be available until 2026, which is simply too late. I ask the Minister of State to provide a clear update on the status of the traffic calming measures planned for Dunkineely National School, to confirm whether the Department and TII visited the site, to explain why emergency funding was not made available to rectify this and to outline the interim safety measures that can be implemented to protect children. This is not just a matter of infrastructure; it is a matter of child safety. We cannot wait until tragedy strikes before action is taken. The community has done everything to highlight this issue. It is now time for the State to stand up and get this done before something happens. It is getting very dangerous. The parents do their bit at the school and, in fairness, the gardaí come and sit on one side to slow the traffic down. Something has to be done here. It cannot continue to be brushed off as happened for the past two years.