I have a copy of the RSA's provisional review of fatalities for last year. I encourage all Members, as policymakers and legislators, to read this review because it reflects the crisis we have in this country when it comes to road safety. Last year, 190 precious lives were lost. They were 76 drivers, 21 passengers, 41 pedestrians, 14 pedal cyclists, 30 motorcyclists and three e-scooter-related deaths. Forty-five were under the age of 25 and 43 were over the age of 66. In my county of Tipperary, ten lives were lost compared to two the previous year. It is interesting to see the counties with the highest numbers were Dublin at 22 and Cork at 21, yet, in counties such as Longford, there were zero fatalities. There was one fatality in Leitrim, one in Sligo and two in Cavan. Of course, behind all of these statistics are families who are absolutely devastated having lost a loved one. It is those families that guide me in my role as Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport. As the Minister of State knows, yesterday marked the first of a series of committee hearings focused on road safety. The committee is keen to move beyond just broad commentary to concentrate on enforcement, operational capacity, legislative gaps, licensing and regulatory gaps, the role of the RSA and other key stakeholders, shortcomings in data capture and data access. The goal is to frame clear, evidence-based proposals that can be implemented in the short to the medium term, with the ultimate goal being to save lives. I look forward to working with the Minister of State and I thank him for his close co-operation to date. I will focus on the matter of enforcement. Why is enforcement so crucial? It is because it shapes driver behaviour. The biggest cause of accidents on Irish roads is as a result of driver behaviour. We have got an urgent issue to address - the strength of our roads policing unit. What shocked me was the extent of non-compliance with existing legislation during the December period with the Garda operation of 10,000 checkpoints. During that period, there were: 26,500 speeding fines; 1,700 fixed penalty notices were issued with regard to mobile phone usage; 450 individuals were not wearing a seatbelt; 765 were arrested for either drunk or drug-driving; and, amazingly, 3,000 vehicles were seized at the side of the road for various offences, 60% of which did not have insurance. The reality is we have less than 650 gardaí currently in our roads policing unit. In 2009, that stood at 400 more, when we had perhaps 1 million less cars on Irish roads. In May 2024, former Commissioner Drew Harris appeared before the Oireachtas committee. He gave a commitment that by the end of 2025, 150 additional Garda members would be appointed to the roads policing unit. Unfortunately, assistant commissioner Gunne, in a recent appearance before the committee, confirmed that only 50% of those posts had been filled. Notwithstanding any outcomes of our Oireachtas hearings on road safety, my appeal to the Minister of State is that the number one priority be enforcement. Enforcement shapes driver behaviour. It is about enforcement of existing road traffic legislation. Driver behaviour matters. It is not good enough that we simply say that numbers in our roads policing unit are a matter for the Garda Commissioner. We have to strengthen our roads policing unit. We have to get back to where we were in 2009, with 1,000 members. That is the number we need in our roads policing unit.

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