Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2018
76. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if work has taken place on a consolidation project of the Road Traffic Acts in view of the reassurances of his predecessors that such a project was under way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45394/18]
View answer102. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if progress has been made regarding the consolidation of road traffic legislation. [45630/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 102 together.
My priorities in respect of road traffic legislation have been focused on legislation which is immediately needed. In that context, my Department is currently working on a Road Traffic Bill to provide, in the main, for graduated penalties for speeding offences.
While not a priority at this time, the consolidation of the Road Traffic Acts must not simply be a matter of re-enacting all current road traffic legislation into one instrument. The benefits of consolidation are too often misunderstood and over-stated. If the project is to be of value, it will be necessary to examine each aspect of the legislation and see where it might be improved upon. Such a project, done properly, could take up to three years to complete.
There is no indication of any failure of prosecutions due to a lack of consolidation, never mind the significant problem which would need to exist to justify diverting resources from more urgent tasks to consolidation at this time. Any decision to undertake such a project in the future will have to be balanced against the value added and the risks associated with undermining the extensive legal precedents established to date. Indeed, I understand that recent significant precedents in court decisions would suggest that consolidation should not be undertaken at this time.
In the interim, the Law Reform Commission has a consolidated text of each of the Road Traffic Acts from 1961 to 2014 available on its website, which along at least one recent publication of a consolidated text of the Road Traffic Acts and related Acts, delivers on what many understand consolidation to mean.
