George Lawlor: Traffic chaos and a rising toll on roads

Thank you, Count Corolla. Taoiseach, last night, again, there was traffic chaos across Dublin after the M50 was closed due to a fire near the bridge. This rippled across the city and the counties surrounding Dublin. And for those relying on public transport, there is more and more evidence of a system falling apart or not functioning. Ghost buses, cancelled trains, a Lewis that shuts down due to a storm. Commuters are tearing their hair out and the rollback of remote working arrangements is putting more workers on the road from places like my own constituency of Wexford. Indeed, my colleague Mark Wall has raised the need for a new Operation Free Flow for a real right to remote work and better road policing. Every TD in this house can recount to you problems with public transport in their constituencies. But you've abandoned the 2-to-1 ratio of investment in much-needed buses, trains and trams. And those travelling to work in this house every day know the chaos that driving or commuting to Dublin now involves. With increased congestion, we're also seeing driver behaviour deteriorating. Those who follow the rules of the road can only sit and watch those reckless drivers breaking the rules, acting with impunity. It's a vicious cycle and road safety campaign group. Park has highlighted the declining number of motoring fines in recent years. This summer, we saw the publication of the Crow report on roads policing that should have been a wake-up call on the need for stronger action. And sadly, Taoiseach, the rise in dangerous driving and issues with road policing is reflected in the rise in deaths on our roads. Already this year, 180 people have been killed on our roads. That's eight more than last year. In recent weeks, there have been a shocking number of horrific accidents. Each death is a tragedy for the families of those killed that will be deeply felt next week as they gather for the Christmas that you've just spoken about. If current trends continue, the overall figure will surpass the 184 killed in 2023, which was the highest number in almost a decade. And it is not clear what the strategy of your government to address this distressing increase is. The official goal is to halve road deaths by 2030. Instead, Ireland is one of the few European countries where road deaths are increasing. The road safety strategy is failing. And we learn from the journal today that the government has abandoned the plan agreed last year to reform the Road Safety Authority by splitting it into two separate bodies. One that is responsible for road safety and another for operational activities like the NCT and driver testing. This was recommended following an independent external review of the Road Safety Authority. As we enter the most dangerous period of the year for road users. Taoiseach, what is the government's plan to reduce road deaths? Why have you abandoned the plan to reform the Road Safety Authority? And will there be an increased level of road policing and enforcement over the next two weeks? Thank you, Deputy Chair. First of all, Deputy, you've identified a number of issues there. Going from public transport, the M50, to road safety. The latter, to me, is the most significant issue. And I would say at the outset, in terms of the M50 traffic congestion, yes, there is a very significant traffic congestion on the M50. It's a vital piece of national infrastructure. Growth in our economy and growth in our population has added significantly to the traffic. Overall levels on the M50 have grown by 11% since 2019. And in terms of the investment side of it, there's huge investment going into public transport. I don't agree with the 2-to-1. It's too crude a mechanism. Because a lot depends on when a project comes to completion. It will draw down an awful lot more money than at the beginning of a project. So the 2-to-1, in my view, is not a sensible framework on a year-to-year basis to judge investment in public transport versus investment in roads. So you take, for example, investment in roads. You take the McCroom Bypass. That is huge for safety. It was actually better for safety, better for air pollution, and better for the quality of the lives of people living in all the towns, Ballivore, McCroom, Ballivore, and the whole way. Yet people would sort of say it's anti-climate or anti-whatever if you build a bypass like that. So I've never accepted the ideological orthodoxy of some people on that side of the fence. So let's make that point. I think we do need to invest hugely in public transport at the same time. And that's what we're doing with Bus Connects. That's what we're doing with Metrolink. And that's what we're doing with Dart Plus. And we now have over 1 million public transport journeys a day, over 343 million public transport journeys last year alone. So that's increasing. But we need more on that front. On road safety, in my view, the establishment of the Road Safety Authority was the most significant measure taken historically in respect of dealing substantially with road debt. I pay a lot of tribute, I haven't housed before, to former Minister Noel Dempsey, who really took on this issue with the late Gayle Byrne. And they transformed it. They were very unpopular in this house because they took measures that many parliamentarians opposed around drink driving, around all sorts of penalties, all of that. But they did it, and it's a lesson to everybody. Every now and again, you need a bit of backbone in politics to do the right thing and get over the short-term opposition and knee-jerk reactions because our roads did become much safer after that and we significantly reduced road debts and injuries. We need to do the same now, Deputy. And in my view, there is a serious increase. Not back to the levels of the 1970s, 80s or whatever, but there is a serious increase which is causing untold trauma to families, young people, and we've had some horrific accidents in recent times that would really horrify us in terms of the trauma that has been visited on so many parents and so many families and so on. The structure, I favour the retention of the Road Safety Authority as the preeminent authority to deal with road safety. Deputy Lord to respond. Well, I'm glad to hear your commitment to public transport. However, in the Street Grail review, the Rossler to Waterford railing has been abandoned yet again. There's no investment in the Rossler to Rossler, your report, despite the massive investment that's going to happen in Rossler, your report. Despite the talk in every constituency, there are black spots that are known in terms of road safety. In my own constituency, the absolutely dreadful conditions of rural roads in particular is appalling. And it's mainly due to the massive and continuing underfunding of Wexford County Council. And indeed, every council, every TD can say the same across the country, despite the fact that local authorities are doing their best. Who is responsible for identifying the structural failures on our roads and ensuring best practices implemented? Budgets are committed to deliver safer roads and stakeholders held accountable for failings. Overhauling the Road Safety Authority was your chance to deliver an agency with the powers to actually make our roads safer, not just spend on PR campaigns. Taoiseach, what will your government do now to reduce road debts and what new action will you undertake? Thank you, Deputy Tisha. I think, first of all, Deputy, what we're going to do, and the Gardaí-Chicón are going to be very active over Christmas in particular, and they're conducting a dedicated road traffic enforcement operation throughout the Christmas period, which began on Monday, the 1st of December, and will continue until Monday, the 5th of January. Yes, you're correct. Investing in better and safer roads, continued enforcement of the law, and increasing the allocation of Gardaí to frontline duties are all part of the measures that we're going to be taking on an ongoing basis. And we're going to implement the Road Safety Strategy 21-2030, and we're going to do everything possible through our enforcement. The Gardaí Commission has taken this very seriously, and the Minister of Justice has been speaking to the Gardaí Commission in respect of this, because I accept your fundamental point. Every road fatality that occurs on our roads is a profound tragedy for a family somewhere in our country. And I think, collectively, if we're all agreed, I'm willing to work with opposition in terms of any measures that people think are meritorious in terms of reducing accidents on a road. Thank you. Deputy Hollick. Thank you.