A GREEN PARTY TD has criticised the Road Safety Authority after it revealed that it had no road safety engineers on its staff.

Road Safety Authority (RSA) and Department of Transport officials appeared before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this morning where they came under strong questioning from TDs, as road deaths continue to rise from a historic low in 2021.

Waterford Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh questioned officials in relation to making public submissions on road safety interventions. His questioning followed on from statements made at the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the RSA did not make any submissions on Section 38 or Part 8 planning matters.

Part 8 refers to development carried out by a local authority such as the building of roads, houses and other public buildings, which are open to public consultation. Section 38 developments refer to traffic calming and minor road improvements carried out by local authorities.

Ó Cathasaigh questioned why the RSA – which is responsible for improving road safety – did not make public submissions in relation to these developments to increase, for example, the number of ‘school streets’ where cars are banned.

“If there was a submission from the RSA that said international research shows us that school streets result in better health outcomes for children, that would be significant in the context of the decision being made either on a Part 8 or a Section 38 if that’s being discussed at the council,” he said.

But you haven’t made any submissions any such submissions, is that correct, on any on any of these?  

Responding, Michael Rowland, Director or Research Standards and Assurance with the RSA, said that the authority had made some submissions, but only when asked to do so.

Ó Cathasaigh questioned who it was that made the submission on this matters, and whether the RSA had transport or road safety engineers on staff. Rowland said that it did not, and that the remit of the authority was “education and awareness”.

“No, it’s not. It goes far beyond that,” Ó Cathasaigh responded. 

He said that under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the RSA has as its function:

“the promotion of public awareness of road safety and of measures, including the advancement of education, relating to the promotion of the safe use of roads, including co-operation with local authorities and other persons in this regard.”

He said the RSA’s remit should include making submissions.

“And to tell me that the Road Safety Authority doesn’t have a road safety engineer on staff. I am gobsmacked,” Ó Cathasaigh said.

He also questioned what the cost benefit analysis of a RSA campaign to distribute 394,350 hi-vis materials to school children, and whether this money should be better spend on targetting drivers and preventing road deaths, rather than focusing on the victims.

Strong questioning 

The officials came under criticism and strong questioning from a number of TDs, including Fine Gael’s Ciarán Cannon, Social Democrats’ Catherine Murphy, Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster and Independent Verona Murphy. 

Cannon raised the prospect of changing remit of the organisation, questioning why it was never critical of the number of cars on the road.

In his opening statements, CEO Sam Waide said that an agreement had been reached with the Data Protection Commissioner for collision data to be shared.

It emerged in April of this year, following an RTÉ Prime Time programme, that up-to-date road traffic collision data was no longer being made available to road engineering teams in local councils as a result of GDPR rules.

According to the report, road engineering teams are unable to access collision data when making decisions about road design and improvement issues.

While this issue is being resolved, officials said that new laws needed to be passed before the sharing of data could resume, and were unable to say if this would be passed before the end of the current Government’s term.

“For the Committee’s clarity, local authorities had previously and continue to receive analysis on high collision locations for the national road network both from Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport,” Waide said.

91 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, including a teenage boy in the early hours of this morning, an 11% increase on the same point last year. There have also been over 560 serious injuries as a result of road traffic accidents this year.