National Vehicle and Driver File, Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17 ============================================================ Pa Daly (SF), Kerry At first glance the Bill appears to be technical and administrative, dealing with databases, record keeping, data sharing arrangements and, as the Minister of State said, motor tax and various amendments. I know that other amendments are to come on Committee Stage and we look forward to hearing about them. Following the M9 crash, the Minister of State said legislation is being prepared, following discussions, and we look forward to seeing what the amendments will be. A lot of elements in the Bill are sensible and long overdue. It modernises the national vehicle and driver file and introduces open-ended non-use declarations. The legislation finally delivers on a commitment to introduce provisions to facilitate the sharing of collision data with local authorities and this is also welcome. While the Government asks us to focus on the administrative reforms, there are families throughout Ireland facing a different reality in the midst of the growing road safety crisis. Road death numbers are going in the wrong direction despite what is happening across Europe, where deaths are decreasing. Dangerous driving is becoming increasingly common. Communities see less Garda traffic enforcement and we know that since 2009 the numbers in the Garda road traffic unit have decreased by about 600. Last year, they went up by five or six but clearly this is not enough. No more than in dealing with public order on the streets, we need visibility to deter people from breaking road traffic laws. Too many families are suffering and, at a time when people are deeply concerned about safety on our roads, the legislative priorities should be stronger enforcement, policing resources and investing in black spots and rural road safety. This administrative Bill is focused largely on databases and processes, and motorists are entitled to ask the simple question as to what problem it actually solves. That is why we look forward to seeing what amendments will come on Committee Stage. At the moment the Bill will not stop reckless speeding or dangerous overtaking, put more gardaí on the roads or make junctions safer. Some of the people who came before the transport committee emphasised the importance of proper design in towns and villages, in particular to ensure road safety. They also emphasised the importance of the visibility of gardaí. These are the ways in which we can save lives on the road and make sure the trend in road deaths starts to decrease or at least halt. Vision Zero by 2050 seems an awful long way off. The truth is that the Bill does little to address the issues that are keeping communities worried and anxious. This year has been the deadliest year on our roads since 2010, with 120 people already having lost their lives. This should set off alarm bells because every road death, as the Minister of State mentioned, is more than a statistic; it is a son or daughter whose future is cut short, a family grieving and a community traumatised. Road deaths are not inevitable. They are not unfortunate accidents. They are often the consequence of a lack of investment, policy failures, enforcement failures and investment failures. For years road safety campaigners, communities and Garda representatives have been warning that visible traffic enforcement is declining. An awful lot of money has been spent on a lot of road safety campaigns, which some experts who have come before the committee have said do not work. Visible enforcement is one of the strongest deterrents. When drivers believe there is little chance of being stopped, compliance declines and risk-taking increases. Communities throughout the country are reporting growing levels of dangerous behaviour on our roads. When Sheila Gilheany of Alcohol Awareness Ireland came before the committee, she showed us statistics and compared the likelihood of being stopped by the police in Australia with the likelihood of being stopped in Ireland. The statistics showed that when people in Ireland go out to drive at night, they do not think they will meet a garda, whereas in Australia the opposite is the case and there is a much higher rate of random stops by police. If my memory serves me correctly, the number of people who die on our roads with alcohol in their system is way higher than it is in Australia because the deterrent effect is there with far more random stops. The number of people stopped on our roads has collapsed compared with 2009. The Minister of State mentioned the non-display of road tax. I ask him to encourage the local authorities and the Garda not to prosecute people any more for failing to display a tax disc on their car. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-17