96. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the measures he is taking to improve road safety; the reasons road deaths have risen by 31% since 2019 while road deaths across the EU dropped by 15% over the same period; the measures he is taking to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31157/26]
Sentiment score: 0.23
What measures are being taken to improve road safety? Clearly, road safety and fatalities on the road are moving in the wrong direction, and quite dramatically so. An independent report said that there had been a very worrying recent increase in fatalities and serious injuries. Since 2019, road deaths have risen by 31% in Ireland while across the European Union they have fallen by 15%. What steps are being taken to address this?
Sentiment score: -0.14
The Minister mentioned that there had been progress on all actions but, unfortunately, that is not seeping down into the road death figures, which are going in the wrong direction. It is not the Minister's brief but I want to refer to the number of gardaí on the roads. It is a consequence of inaction by the Government. There are 400 fewer gardaí on the roads than there were 15 years ago. The number of gardaí in that Garda unit has halved since 2009. We received a briefing the other day from Alcohol Action Ireland. There are some very worrying statistics in its brochure. It said that, in 2025, there were 4,800 arrests for drink driving. That compares to almost 20,000 in 2007. The rate of breath-testing among licensed drivers is only 5.3% whereas in other countries it is multiples of that. The consequences of that are that while 14% of driver fatalities in Australia, for example, have a positive toxicology for alcohol, that figure is 35% in Ireland.
Sentiment score: -0.16
Unfortunately, personal responsibility is corralled or dictated by the chances of getting caught. When the number of arrests, the amount of enforcement and the number of gardaí on the road have decreased so hugely and the number of drink driving arrests is down by 75% since 2007, people are more likely to get into cars. That is just human nature. I want to ask about the flip flop on the disbanding of the RSA. An independent report was commissioned, done by Indecon. It said the dual role of the RSA in delivering operational services, such as driver testing and NCT, is a distraction from the more important role of national road safety policy, education, which the Minister spoke about, and campaigns. It undermines the ability to respond to rising fatalities.
Sentiment score: -0.19
Is the Government even at this late going to allow the RSA to do what it is supposed to do and deal with operational services in a separate body?
Sentiment score: 0.23
98. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport for an update on the new Irish Rail traffic management IT system; the measures he is taking to address cost overruns and delays; when he expects this system will be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31154/26]
Sentiment score: 0.01
I want to ask the Minister about documents recently released to the Committee of Public Accounts relating to cost overruns in the IT system that was supposed to regulate train movements across the State. Under the initial proposals, the traffic management system was targeted to be commissioned in 2024 with an associated target cost of €19 million. However, over €31.5 million has apparently already been spent without the first phase having been completed. Has the Minister of State any statement to make?
Sentiment score: 0.02
There may not be difficulty with railway safety at the moment, but to say that progress has been slower than anticipated when €31.5 million has been spent without the first phase having been completed is surely the understatement of the year. I understand that there are between seven and nine phases to it and we have not even reached phase 1 despite that kind of expenditure. I do not need to go into the history of bike sheds, children's hospitals and so on but is there a danger that something similar will happen, given the snail's pace of this progress? It was presented as a flagship project. It was going to be the brain of the railway network and the NTA said it was a critical component of the national train control centre, but we cannot hide from this. The costs are massive, and people are keeping an eye on this at the moment with the cost-of-living crisis. I do not think that the progress, answers or reviews are good enough. The Department, the Minister and the wider Government need to take action.
Sentiment score: 0.12
The Minister of State is correct to say that there is a growing use of rail, and we support that, but its development and broadening out are at serious risk with projects like this. The minutes of Irish Rail board meetings are publicly available. The chair of Iarnród Éireann and the project director have expressed serious reservations about the direction and delivery of the project as well as concerns about the contractor's ability to deliver all phases of the project. The failures of this project also raise massive concerns about the contractor's ability to deliver the new €269 million-plus contactless transport ticketing service, the contract for which it also has. We are in a situation where there are electric buses parked up. They are not being used and there are serious concerns about the ability to deliver next generation ticketing. We are lagging far behind the progress that we see in other countries.
Sentiment score: 0.15