A renewed focus is currently being given to progress Ireland’s commitment to Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Substantial progress has been achieved in recent months in respect of reviewing Ireland’s implementation of Agenda 2030 and identifying key priorities and actions for inclusion in the next National Implementation Plan. It is intended that the draft Plan will be made available shortly and form the basis of discussion at the next SDG National Stakeholder Forum. This will allow for a final round of input from stakeholders prior to finalisation and publication.
Ireland has adopted a ‘whole-of-Government’ approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with each Minister having responsibility for implementing individual SDG targets related to their functions. My Department has responsibility for leading implementation of:Target 3.6: ‘By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents’, and Target 11.2 : to ‘By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons’
Target 3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
The Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020 set out to reduce road crash fatalities from 186 in 2011 to 124 or fewer by 2020. In 2010, the UN declared the decade from 2011-2020 as a decade of action for road safety and set a target of halving road deaths globally by 2020. Ireland recorded 212 road deaths in 2010, in 2021 this number was 136. Viewed within a longer-term context nationally the improvement is greater, i.e. in the year 2000, there were 415 deaths on Irish roads (and in fact 458 as recently as 1998).
In December 2021 my Department launched a new national road safety strategy which will run to 2030, in line with EU strategy. The new Strategy aims to contribute to the EU ‘Vision Zero’ target of zero deaths or serious injuries on roads in Europe by 2050 by reducing deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% over the decade.
Progress towards meeting SDG Target 11.2
Providing an accessible, efficient, safe and sustainable transport system that supports communities, households and businesses lies at the core of my Department’s mission and underpins all of the activities carried out by my Department. Actions to support this mission and to achieve SDG Target 11.2 are therefore mainstreamed into my Department’s procedures, and integrated into its policies, investment strategies and consultative processes.
A new Sustainable Mobility Policy will be published in Q1 2022. This will set out a strategic framework to 2030 for active travel and public transport to support our requirement to achieve a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade. The new policy is informed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the EU’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.
The revised National Development Plan 2021-2030 allocates €35 billion for transport investment over the ten years for development of active and public transport, and continued support for road network maintenance and development, providing for regional connectivity and compact urban growth.
In addition to ensuring, safe, accessible and affordable transport systems in our cities and towns, the National Transport Authority (NTA) also has national responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including management of the Rural Transport Programme which operates under the Local Link brand.
The public accessibility of transport systems is specifically addressed through the Transport Access for All – Sectoral Plan for Accessible Transport under the Disability Act 2005, which ensures that accessibility is included in all transport projects from design stage. To this end, in 2018, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport appointed disability advocates to the Boards of the five Public Transport companies.
