Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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607. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to address the increase in road deaths in 2016 and to ensure 2017 will be a much safer year on Irish roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39523/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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While road fatalities in 2015 at 162 matched those in 2012, making it Ireland's joint safest year on record, the reality is that each of those deaths is one too many, and there has been an overall upward trend in road fatalities in Europe and in the US over the last few years, and regrettably in Ireland this year.

The RSA and all relevant stakeholders met on 21 November 2016, to carry out a mid-term review of the Road Safety Strategy 2013 - 2020.  The focus of this review was on the measures already introduced and the initiatives required to improve the country's road safety performance. While there is good progress on implementation of much of the Srategy, more recent trends are concerning and challenges remain in many areas. I expect the RSA to submit the review to me early in the new year. At a Ministerial Committee on Road Safety last month, we focused on the rise in fatalities in 2016 and all stakeholders undertook to explore what further measures can be taken to address these, including in the light of the mid-term review. We agreed that there was a case for a more concentrated focus on the four principal causes of fatal accidents, namely speed, the presence of intoxicants, non-wearing of seatbelts and the use of mobile phones.

In an effort to address some of these issues, I have been committed to progressing the Road Traffic Bill 2016 through the Oireachtas as a matter of urgency. It contains relevant provisions to tackle speed and the presence of intoxicants. It is hoped that this Bill will be signed into law within the coming weeks.

I hope that the efforts by the RSA to launch renewed road safety campaigns including regarding low-level speeding, alcohol and driving, and the mid-term review of the Road Safety Strategy, together with greater enforcement by An Garda Síochána, will have an impact on road safety in 2017 and beyond.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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608. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he and his Department have held any meetings with the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, SIMI, and major manufacturers of vehicles selling here with regard to improving vehicle safety systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39524/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The RSA has statutory responsibility for the oversight and development of standards for the construction, equipment and use of vehicles, including the drafting of regulatory proposals and the furnishing of advice to my Department in relation to same. It is in this capacity that they attend quarterly technical meetings of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry where evolving vehicle safety and other technologies are discussed.

Improved vehicle safety standards is one of the key pillars of road safety, the importance of which is reflected in action 64 of the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020 which commits the RSA to research emerging in-vehicle road safety technologies and to make recommendations on their introduction. The RSA is currently investigating the road safety effectiveness of such technologies, including pedestrian and cyclist detections systems, with a view to their possible introduction to the national fleet. It must be noted though that mandatory EU-wide improvement in vehicle safety systems is regulated through EU Type Approval Regulations.

​Given that a comprehensive approach to improved road safety requires ever improving vehicle safety standards, the road safety benefits that can be accrued from the application of advanced vehicle technologies to both the national and EU vehicle fleet (passenger cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles etc.) are substantial. It is with this in mind that I have joined with my European counterparts in requesting that the EU Commission speed up their review of the EU's General and Pedestrian Safety Regulations, and that they come forward with a proposal for ambitious new vehicle safety standards in 2017 to assist Member States to halve the number of road deaths across the EU by 2020.