Other Members’ Questions

Is ábhar imní agus buartha é líon na ndaoine atá ag cailliúint a gcuid saolta ar bhóithre na hÉireann. Tá mé ag caint ní hamháin faoi líon na ndaoine atá ag cailliúint a gcuid saolta, ach freisin faoi líon na ndaoine atá á ngortú go trom agus iad ag úsáid bóithre na hÉireann. Road deaths and serious injuries continue to devastate families and communities across Ireland, in particular on rural and regional roads. Unsafe behaviour remains a significant contributor. Strong visible enforcement, as we have often discussed in the House, is one of the most effective ways of changing driver behaviour and improving compliance. While the Government has made welcome progress through the national safety camera strategy, the expansion of average speed cameras and the development of a more co-ordinated approach to technology-based enforcement are now things we need to seriously consider. If we are serious about reducing fatalities and serious injuries, we need to be more ambitious about how we use technology to make our roads safer. Technology such as automatic number plate recognition cameras, average speed cameras, red light cameras and automated traffic enforcement systems have enormous potential to improve compliance, save lives and prevent serious injuries. The challenge that has been outlined by senior Garda officers to the transport committee this year is that significant Garda resources are still required to review and process any camera-detected offences, creating bottlenecks that can limit the scale and speed of enforcement. We should streamline those processes, reduce unnecessary administration and ensure that Garda time is focused on front-line roads policing and tackling the most dangerous of drivers. As part of that, we should examine a greater role for local authorities and other authorised bodies in enforcing traffic management measures, HGV restrictions and other road safety regulations, where appropriate. The other side of this coin is that technology also has a preventative role. Many countries now use wrong-way driver detection systems that can identify vehicles entering motorways in the wrong direction, trigger immediate warnings and alert emergency services before lives are lost. We should continue expanding proven measures while embracing new technologies that can identify risks, prevent collisions and save lives. Above all else, we should remove the barriers that exist in our systems and processes, and where those barriers are legislative, we should change that legislation to make sure Garda time is focused on tackling dangerous drivers as opposed to doing back-office work in processing offences. If technology can help us to prevent those deaths, improve compliance and free up Garda resources, we should not allow outdated systems, legislation or administrative processes to stand in the way. Today, I ask for the support of the Taoiseach. Ireland now needs a more ambitious programme of technology-enabled road safety enforcement and intervention. Will he work with me and other colleagues to bring forward the legislative and administrative changes as they are identified to ensure that these technologies are deployed at pace and scale to save lives and reduce serious injuries on our roads?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in his evidence-based, researched and informed way. Clearly, all of our thoughts are with the victims and the families of all of those who have lost their lives on our roads across the country in recent times. My understanding is that to date, we have had 134 fatalities this year, 13 more than for the same period last year. This is a very serious issue. The nature of the accidents and fatalities on our roads is also changing. The manner in which certain events are happening on our roads is not static, such as people driving the wrong way down a motorway. The Deputy is absolutely correct. We have to tackle this through a combination of additional gardaí and personnel but also far greater use of technology to deal with road safety. My understanding is that the Garda is taking this particularly seriously. It has increased capacity through the roll-out of apps on mobile devices and the deployment of high-performance unmarked cars, motorbikes, lorry tractor cabs and so on. On 1 January of this year, An Garda Síochána introduced 390 new safety camera zones, including 55 community request safety cameras zones, bringing the total to 1,900 nationwide. The Government recognises the significant potential of connected and autonomous vehicles and intelligent transport systems, ITS, technologies to improve road safety outcomes. We are taking practical steps to create the legislative, regulatory and digital foundations needed to support the safe deployment of connected and automated mobility and ITS technologies. The Government will continue to support the deployment of co-operative intelligent transport systems, which enable vehicles, infrastructure and traffic management systems to exchange critical safety information in real time. The Deputy is correct. All of these technologies can improve road safety by providing advance warning of hazards and incidents, improving protection for vulnerable road users, supporting more effective traffic management and enhancing vehicle awareness of road and traffic conditions. In March, the Government used a legislative framework, a statutory instrument, to facilitate the deployment of level 2 connected and automated vehicle technologies. It is an important milestone in preparing Ireland for the safe introduction of increasingly advanced vehicle automation technologies. On 26 June, the Minister signed the declaration of intent on automated vehicles, alongside 17 other EU member states, on testing and deployment. We are looking at rolling this out in the context of Europe-wide development. As I said recently in public, I believe that not everyone fully gets the degree to which technology can substantially change how we do road safety in this country.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach as na freagraí sin. Cuirim fáilte roimh an méid atá leagtha amach aige i dtaobh na gcéimeanna atá á dtógáil le déileáil le sábháilteacht ar ár mbóithre. As the Taoiseach mentioned, the number of fatalities this year alone is the highest it has been in the last ten years. There is now urgency and a need for political priority to be centred on this issue. While fatalities are one side of it, there is another side that is not reported all that often, which is that in our cities and towns near misses or serious collisions involving vulnerable road users are a very real issue. I speak as a cyclist. Any cyclist moving around Dublin will see that there are issues with driver behaviour, in particular, and also, if we are frank, cyclist behaviour. My ask today is whether we can explore whether local authorities, which already have the power to issue parking fines, can be incorporated into the processing of offences that are collected by cameras, so valuable Garda resources are not stuck in the back office processing offences, but local authorities are allowed to do that processing in a much more automated way. We need to change and shift driver behaviour and, as the Taoiseach said, technology is a key determinant in doing that.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Ar dtús, adhmhaím go bhfuil agus go mbeidh ról faoi leith ag an teicneolaíocht maidir leis na bóithre agus daoine a bheith níos sábháilte ar na bóithre. Táimid sásta i bhfad níos mó áiseanna a chur ar fáil ionas go mbeimid in ann an teicneolaíocht sin a thabhairt isteach. Mar aon leis sin, tá géarghá go ndéanfaimid gach aon iarracht ar an togra seo. On the role of local authorities, I would be cautious to a certain extent in terms of the legal framework covering all of that and capacity. However, it should be explored. The new community safety partnerships are a step in the direction of stronger community engagement with policing more generally. I would have to reflect on and explore that a bit more in terms of whether you would be better giving this to local authorities or keeping it with An Garda Síochána. However, I do believe we need more gardaí. Thankfully, since Covid, we have been ramping up the numbers of gardaí going through Templemore on a cycle-by-cycle basis.

We will get to 15,000 very shortly. We are at about 14,750 at the moment.