Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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428. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of fatal road traffic collisions in each of the years 2016 to 2024; the number of drivers involved per year; the number of drivers whereby the status of their driving licence or learner permit is unknown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40943/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Road safety is a shared responsibility, which An Garda Síochána, my Department and the Government as a whole all take very seriously.

After a shocking and tragic first quarter of the year, the Garda Commissioner has responded effectively and directed that all uniformed Gardaí are to undertake 30 minute of high visibility roads policing in each tour of duty. This increase in enforcement is, thankfully, correlated with a slowing down of that upward trend in the number of road fatalities.

Of course, all loss of life is a tragedy, and it is important that none of us become complacent. That is why earlier this month, I announced that €9 million has been allocated to fund up to 100 new speed cameras, to help ensure compliance at all times.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, compiles and publishes all crime statistics including the number of road deaths (fatalities) and the number of injured casualties on the roads in Ireland each year.

The Road Safety Authority has a statutory remit to report on fatal, serious and minor injury collisions on public roads. The RSA receives collisions data from An Garda Síochána for this purpose and produces official statistics to help develop evidence-based road safety interventions.

The below tables, provided to me by An Garda Síochána, outline the road traffic collision data as requested by the Deputy.

I would note that this data does not tell us anything in relation to the cause of those accidents. We must take care not to indicate that any individual or group of individuals were complicit in causing a collision simply by virtue of the nature of their licence status.

I am further advised that these figures are based on incidents occurring from 1 January 2016 to 9 October 2024, inclusive. This information is based upon operational data from the Pulse system as was available on 10 October 2024 and is liable to change.

1. Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of fatal traffic collisions per year from 2016-2024, year to date.

2. Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of drivers involved in fatal traffic collisions per year from 2016-2024. This figure is for all drivers recorded in fatal traffic collisions and not the number of driver road deaths.

3. Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of drivers involved in fatal traffic collisions per year from 2016-2024 where the status of their driving licence is unknown.

* Denotes numbers below 10