Vol. 490 No. 5
26 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the proposals, if any, he has in tandem with the National Safety Council, the local authorities, the Garda Síochána and the National Roads Authority to reduce the ever rising death toll on Irish roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10532/98]
There is increased public and political concern about road safety. While we have greatly improved our road safety performance over the past 20 years, the increasing road travel and vehicle numbers, resulting from strong economic growth, are now threatening to erode these gains and re-establish adverse trends. It is a major priority of the Government to improve road safety both by the intensification of existing efforts for better enforcement, education and road engineering and by the introduction where necessary of selected new measures.
Some months ago the High Level Group on Road Safety was mandated to develop and submit to Government a national road safety strategy. This is a new and important initiative which will provide both better co-ordination and prioritisation of existing road safety activities and a platform for new initiatives. I am confident that it will benefit Irish performance considerably. Work on the strategy will shortly be completed and it will be presented to Government prior to its publication.
In the meantime the relevant public agencies have continued to be active in relation to road safety. A substantially increased grant has been provided by my Department for the National Safety Council in 1998 for the purpose of improving road safety and promoting road accident prevention. Garda enforcement of road traffic law continues to be given a high priority under the direction of the National Traffic Policy Bureau. The Garda Operation Lifesaver is continuing through 1998 and its effectiveness is constantly reviewed and improvements made to enhance enforcement as necessary. The National Roads Authority has increased its provision in 1998 for its low cost safety measures programme and for other road safety related measures.
