Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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188. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason the RSA refuses to release detailed crash data to local councils and road planners (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56415/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Firstly, it is important to clarify that the RSA has not refused to release collision data to local authorities. The RSA provided this information to local authorities until legal advice sought by the local authority sector indicated that the legislative basis by which they received and processed collision data was insufficiently robust from a GDPR perspective. On foot of this advice, local authorities requested that they RSA no longer send them collision data, and this data flow has been paused since November 2023.

From November 2023, the RSA led a cross-Government group that engaged intensively on the sharing of collision data, resulting in a detailed submission from my Department to the Data Protection Commission on 31 May 2024 setting out the data fields to be shared and associated rationale.

The DPC approved this submission on 10 June 2024. With this approval, on 21 June 2024, a Ministerial Order was made under Section 8 of the Road Safety Authority Act to underpin the exchange of collision data between An Garda Síochána and the RSA. Now, the next step is to give local authorities the legal basis to receive and process this data.

The National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2025 provides, inter alia, for the sharing of traffic collision data with local authorities. The General Scheme of the Bill was approved by Government in April and the Bill is a priority for drafting during the current legislative term. Once published, enactment is subject to Oireachtas scheduling and to approval of the Bill by the Oireachtas.

Finally, it is important to note that, as an interim measure, the Department of Transport continues to detailed collision analysis on the regional and local road network to identify locations of interest. When locations of interest are identified, the Department notifies the affected local authority. In turn, local authorities can apply for funding of low-cost safety schemes for these locations of interest. As such, collision data continues to be an important input into local authorities' investment decision-making, albeit through an indirect route pending the passage of primary legislation.