Jack Chambers, Minister of State at the Department of Transport: I welcome the opportunity to address the House. As many Deputies will be aware, in three of the past four years, we have seen an increase in road-related fatalities and serious accidents. Last year, 2023, was a particularly stark year on our roads with 188 people losing their lives, the worst total in close to a decade. Tragically, this upward trend has continued well into 2024. As of this morning, there have been 63 fatalities on our roads this year, which is an increase of 14, or 28.5%, compared with this time last year and puts us on course for more than 220 fatalities for the year in total. Many of those fatalities will be young people. It is incumbent on all of us working in the sector to redouble our efforts to reverse the current trend using everything at our disposal. Legislative change, renewed and enhanced educational campaigns, enhanced enforcement both through increased Garda numbers and technology, and improved engineering will all form part of the solution.

While we have made great strides since our first national road safety strategy began in 1998, that progress has passed and we must do more to reverse the downward trend of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. While there has been an increase in road deaths in recent years, data we have received so far confirms that the four main causes of death on our roads remain speeding, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt and intoxicated driving. Road Safety Authority research supports the data. In a national representative survey conducted in 2023, 14% of drivers reported driving within one hour of having consumed drugs in the past 30 days and 15% reported driving within one hour of drinking alcohol. The social acceptability of drink-driving also appears to be increasing, with 72% of respondents to a 2021 survey indicating it is unacceptable compared with 82% of respondents in 2015.

Recent research on mobile phone use among drivers aged 18 to 24 commissioned by the Road Safety Authority has also found that 100% of focus group participants use their mobile phones while driving, at least occasionally. There is also a perception that there is no risk of being caught, which is of serious concern. Phone dependence was cited as a major contributory factor. Deputies may be aware that the risk of being involved in a collision increases by a factor of four when a driver uses his or her mobile phone and we cannot allow this killer behaviour to become normalised among young people or among the driving population more generally.

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