National Vehicle and Driver File, Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17 ============================================================ Louis O'Hara (SF), Galway East This legislation is long overdue to address a number of technical issues and, in particular, to legislate for the sharing of collision data. Since late 2023, local authorities have been unable to receive vital Garda collision data. While the Department did provide for the partial sharing of this data, there is a legitimate question to be asked as to why it has taken nearly three years for the issue to be resolved. Without all of this data, local authorities, which are responsible for maintaining the majority of the State's road network, face significant barriers in implementing road safety measures. This clearly should have been an urgent priority for the Government, yet it has taken years to get to this point and it has caused delays to many road safety measures. On the broader issue of road safety, the latest road fatality statistics show that 2026 is likely to be the deadliest year on Irish roads since 2010. Road fatalities are up 17.8% so far in 2026 when compared with the same period last year. This demonstrates that Ireland's roads are becoming more dangerous. Each road fatality statistic represents a life lost and a wider family devastated, and it demonstrates the constant work needed to make our roads safe for all who use them. The Government's target of halving road deaths by 2030 is moving further out of reach. Despite these trends, the Government has ignored the overhaul that is needed in road safety policy and governance, which was recommended in the 2024 Indecon report. This failure in road safety is seen at a national level. In my constituency, many towns and villages across Galway have seen road safety projects delayed and this is having a significant impact on the people who live in these areas. One example I would like to raise is that of Kilmeen Cross in County Galway, which the Minister of State will be familiar with. This is an area where there have been a number of serious accidents. A road safety scheme was first proposed there years ago, including lights and a roundabout, but it has been left in limbo for years. It has been passed back and forth between the council and TII, with no clarity as to when it will be progressed and no funding allocation to begin construction works. That needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We also have the example of pedestrian crossings and traffic calming on the national road through Kinvara, which has been held up for 20 years. We have the example of Bridge Street in Dunmore. This is also a national road where there has been a failure to progress the regeneration and road widening project. Residents have again been left waiting years for that to happen. These are the basics that we need to get right to prevent tragic incidents from occurring on our roads. It is not acceptable for crucial schemes, like the ones I outlined, to be left stuck in limbo for years. The Government and TII need to get their act together and get these schemes progressed. Another aspect I would like to raise is the failure of the Government to adequately resource the Garda roads policing unit and the poor level of speed limit enforcement. I have raised many times with the Minister of State that there are only 58 speed camera vans responsible for monitoring speed limits across 1,900 camera zones. Likewise, only a handful of fixed speed cameras are operating across the State. We cannot say that this is effective enforcement, especially when we know that speeding is one of the leading causes of road collisions. The Government cannot continue to treat rising numbers of fatalities on our roads as isolated incidents. The reality here is that rising numbers of fatalities reflect fundamental failures within the Government's approach to road safety, including the failure to adequately resource the Garda roads policing unit, the failure to invest in road safety measures and the failure to reform wider road safety policy and governance. The time to act is now to save lives on our roads and ensure that our roads are as safe as possible for all who use them. --- 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