Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
279. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Transport the measures that are being taken to reduce the levels of fatalities on roads from road traffic collisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2216/22]
View answerIreland has had multi-annual Road Safety Strategies since 1998, and we have made great strides in reducing deaths on our roads in that time. There were 472 deaths on our roads in 1997, the last year before the first Strategy. Last year, 2021, there were 130 deaths, the lowest level ever.
In our Programme for Government, we committed to introducing “an ambitious road safety strategy targeting the Vision Zero principle” – that is the EU plan to eliminate road deaths by 2050 – and made a further commitment that the new Strategy would be “focused on reducing death and injuries of vulnerable road users, pedestrians, and cyclists.” The Road Safety Strategy 2021 - 2030, published in December, meets these objectives.
The Strategy’s primary aim is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% over the next 10 years. This means reducing deaths on Ireland’s roads annually from 144 to 72 or lower and reducing serious injuries from 1,259 to 630 or lower by 2030. It will also be the first step in Ireland’s journey towards realising Vision Zero, i.e., no deaths or serious injuries by 2050.
The Strategy will be conducted over three phases, with Action Plans for each. The Action Plan for the first phase, 2021-2024, is available here - rsa.ie/docs/default-source/default-document-library/government_road_safety_strategy_action_plan_2021_2024_13th_dec21_final.pdf?sfvrsn=ec8d58d1_3. Action Plans for the subsequent phases (2025 – 2027 and 2028 – 2030) will be developed in the 6 months leading up to those phases and will take account of the prevailing circumstances at those times.
