Section 81 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 provides for the use of cameras by the Garda to assist in the detection of certain offences. The powers have been used by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, working with the Garda. It is open to road authorities to use these powers on a similar basis for other offences. As part of our wider camera-based enforcement strategy, we want to have many more locations in urban and other areas. In particular, given our investment in public transport infrastructure, we want to ensu…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am committed to facilitating the commercial State ports under my remit as positive contributors to the offshore renewable energy, ORE, industry to support Ireland in meeting its ambitious targets of 5 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, with a further 2 GW in development for the production of green hydrogen and other non-grid uses. Supporting the development of port infrastructure is a core objective of the national offshore wind delivery task force and the D…

I will conclude what I was about to say and then respond to the Deputy's direct question. The Port of Cork has been assisted by Department officials in applying for the EU's Connecting Europe Facility. We provided support and guidance on those applications. This can help the port obtain 30% of the costs for infrastructure and up to 50% of the costs for other studies. The results of these calls are expected in June or July of this year. We are working with the port on that. Furthermore, the Department of Transport s…

There is a need to ensure progress on this. We are engaging regularly with the Port of Cork on its needs, both in meetings and through correspondence, in respect of the proposed development at Ringaskiddy. There is extensive engagement with the corporate governance division on the financing needs of the port. The offshore renewable energy ports division, which was established last year, has also been extensively engaging with the Port of Cork on this matter in the context of the CEF, but also on the timelines the D…

I thank the Deputies from the Labour Party who have tabled this motion on the importance of road safety, along with the condition of our roads and active travel infrastructure. I welcome the opportunity to debate these important concerns. I also acknowledge constructive engagement and support of Labour and indeed other Deputies in progressing the recent Road Traffic Act. A collaborative approach from all parties and none is the best way to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and …

I welcome the opportunity to address the House. As many Deputies will be aware, in three of the past four years, we have seen an increase in road-related fatalities and serious accidents. Last year, 2023, was a particularly stark year on our roads with 188 people losing their lives, the worst total in close to a decade. Tragically, this upward trend has continued well into 2024. As of this morning, there have been 63 fatalities on our roads this year, which is an increase of 14, or 28.5%, compared with this time la…

That is what is happening.

The Ceann Comhairle is right about the issue of driver distraction. Something that is being discussed and researched at present is car design and how it has evolved. It is as big an issue in terms of driver distraction and is being flagged by many researchers. The European Commission and the wider European research community are assessing this in the context of standards in car design. I thank all of the Deputies for the very useful discussion. It is particularly relevant as we all work to reverse the very serious …

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I thank the House, and particularly everyone who has contributed to the debate over the past while and during earlier Stages, for the passage of this Bill. It is, as Senators will be aware, a short and focused Bill to address the worrying trend we have been witnessing on our roads. After the worst year on our roads in almost a decade in 2023, sadly we are currently on trend for a significantly worse year in 2024. Systemic action to turn this trend around is urgently needed. To bring …

Today, I bring the Road Traffic Bill 2024 before the House following its passage in Dáil Éireann on 6 March. The Road Traffic Bill 2024 is an urgent and essential part of the Government's response to the concerning trend of rising road fatalities and serious injuries. This is a short and focused Bill that aims to address issues with driver behaviours through legislative change. Ireland made great progress on road safety in the first 20 years of the millennium. In 1999, there were 413 deaths on Irish roads. In 2018,…

I appreciate everyone's remarks and support for the Bill. I acknowledge the presence of Deputy Devlin and his guests in the Public Gallery. To speak to Senator Murphy's contribution, much of what he set out contained excellent points in terms of the 1,800 speeding offences that occurred last weekend. It is shocking. That is 1,800 potential collisions and areas of high risk, where people were risking their lives, the lives of the passengers in their vehicles and the lives of others, including vulnerable road users l…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2B): “(2C) Where a member of the Garda Síochána, under subsection (2A), requires a person to provide a specimen of oral fluid from his or her mouth, the member shall require the person to remain at a place (including a vehicle) at or in the vicinity of the public place concerned (for a period that does not exceed 30 minutes after the provision of the specimen) unti…

I thank the Deputies for the items they raised. Some did not relate to the Bill but I am happy to come back on some of those. Deputy Daly raised the issue of roadside testing. This would apply to any planned or random checkpoint in the context of testing, as per his question. In the context of the RSA allocation, we found additional reserves in the RSA budget towards the end of last year which enabled us to fulfil its request for additional spending. This additional spending on advertising, communications and aroun…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 9, lines 30 and 31, to delete “subsection (2) or (2A)” and substitute “subsection (2), (2A) or (2C)”.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 9, lines 32 and 33, to delete “subsection (2) or (2A)” and substitute “subsection (2), (2A) or (2C)”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 9, after line 33, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 10 of Act of 2010 13. Section 10 of the Act of 2010 is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4): “(4A) Where a member of the Garda Síochána, under paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (4), requires a person to provide a specimen of oral fluid from his or her mouth, the member shall require the person to remain at a place (including a vehicle) at or in the vicinity of the checkpoint co…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, after line 33, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 22 of Act of 2010 14. Section 22 of the Act of 2010 is amended in subsection (1A) (inserted by section 13(i) of the Act of 2023) by the substitution of “subsection (2), (2A) or (2C)” for “subsection (2) or (2A)”.”.

I thank Deputies for their co-operation on this Bill. It will make a difference in addressing the worrying trend we have seen in fatalities, in particular last year, which had 188 deaths. The trend is still going in the wrong direction in 2024. The Bill will target three concerning areas, namely, penalty points reform, mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions and the implementation of key recommendations of the speed limit review. It is a much-needed Bill that will assist in reversing this trend an…

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic with members of the House. I understand that the Deputy’s question is in relation to the provision of funding to Cork County Council for emergency repairs on roads and bridges following Storm Babet in October with an emphasis on the east Cork region. As the Deputy said, I was in Cork myself in the days following this, and I am aware of the destruction that was caused in so many areas of the county. We have been …

I absolutely agree with the Deputy. There is a key safety component to this, in addition to the wider issues around the social, economic and community infrastructure. We appreciate the Deputy raising this, and the Government is fully committed to restoring our road networks after the impact of this storm. The vast interconnected network is used by cars, buses, trucks, vans and cyclists, and is essential for connecting people, businesses and communities. We know that the road network suffers deterioration due to sev…