Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Transport if consideration has been given to requiring pedestrians to wear reflective armbands after dusk, in his efforts to cut down on road fatalities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3316/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The consensus of public authorities concerned with road safety has been that the wearing of reflective armbands is best promoted on a voluntary basis by way of educational and publicity campaigns such as those undertaken by the National Safety Council, rather than through legislation. The safety of all road users is generally a matter of personal responsibility. In that context, the Rules of the Road include a strong recommendation supporting the use at night by pedestrians of reflective armbands outside urban areas.

However, I have asked my officials to consider, in consultation with the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Finance, the question of supplying all school children with reflective armbands, and to report to me on the matter.

Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Transport if all the necessary resources are in place to allow the targets set out in the national road safety strategy to be met before its end in December 2006; if not, the measures he intends to enact to meet such targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3338/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's Road Safety Strategy 2004-06 sets a primary target of a 25% reduction in road collision fatalities by the end of 2006 over the average annual number of fatalities in the 1998-2003 period. Achievement of the target would result in no more than 300 deaths per annum by the end of the period of the strategy. This is an ambitious target and one which will require the continued commitment to a strategic, integrated approach by all of the road safety agencies.

Progress depends in the first instance on a continued emphasis on the approach that underpins the strategy. A major independent review of the previous strategy confirms that basing the primary target on the achievement of progress in the areas of speeding, drink driving and use of seat belts remains the correct approach. These remain the key areas of the new strategy.

The increase in road deaths recorded over the past number of months places the challenge of meeting the targets set out in the strategy in stark focus. I am satisfied that all of the agencies involved in the delivery of the strategy are fully committed to the achievement of the goals that underpin it, and that they have the resources available to them to support those commitments.

Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 185: To ask the Minister for Transport the reason for the delay in meeting the commitment in the road safety strategy to set a target for the reduction in serious injuries from road traffic accidents; and when same will be ready. [3113/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Road Safety Strategy 2004-06 acknowledges that there are significant difficulties in establishing a benchmark from which to set a target for the achievement of a reduction in the number of serious injuries. For that reason, the central target established for the strategy was focused on the realisation of a reduction in the number of road deaths.

The strategy included a commitment to the pursuit of a programme aimed at establishing a more robust basis for determining injury data based on the information flow from the Garda Síochána to the National Roads Authority, allied to information from hospital admission data and insurance claims.

This exercise is still being pursued by a number of organisations that are represented on the road safety high level group under the general direction of the National Roads Authority, which is tasked with the publication of national road collision data.

As the planning horizon for the current strategy is completed at the end of this year, the establishment of a meaningful target for the achievement of reductions in injuries would be of limited value. The results of the examination of this issue will, however, inform decisions on the establishment of targets for the next road safety strategy.