Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline the law in relation to cyclists wearing safety helmets. [40554/12]

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider making the wearing of safety helmets mandatory for all cyclists. [40555/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 481 and 482 together.

At the present the Road Traffic Acts do not provide for the wearing of helmets by cyclists.  There has been much debate in recent times relating to the wearing of helmets by cyclists and whether or not such wearing should be made compulsory.  The consensus of those bodies concerned with road safety has been that the wearing of helmets by cyclists is best promoted on a voluntary basis by way of educational and publicity campaigns, such as those undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), rather than to impose a legal requirement with consequent prosecutions and penalties for contravention, particularly in the case of minors.