Proposal to split Road Safety Authority 'long overdue', says Cork TD

The recommendation to split the Road Safety Authority into two separate bodies, contained in an independent external review of the State organisation, has been described as “long overdue” by Cork East TD and longtime RSA critic James O’Connor.

The review, which was commissioned by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and his ministerial colleague James Lawless, made a range of recommendations for reform of the RSA.

The report’s key proposal is there should be a separation between the RSA’s two key responsibilities — the delivery of road safety customer services such as the National Driving Licence Scheme and the National Car Test and wider road safety public interest activities such as targeted media campaigns on key aspects of road use.

Approval

The Government gave its approval yesterday to progress the proposal to separate the two responsibilities.

As he launched the report yesterday, Mr Ryan said that there had been a “positive transformation” in safety on Irish roads in recent decades.

“However, recent years have seen this long-term improvement go into reverse,” said Mr Ryan.

“Every single death is a tragedy for the victims’ families, friends, and community, and it is incumbent on everyone working in the sector to look at what we’re doing and change the approach to ensure our roads are as safe as possible.

“This reform of the RSA and wider road safety structures aims to deliver a more effective whole-of-Government response to the deteriorating fatality and serious injury trends on Irish roads.”

Cork East TD James O’Connor said the organisation had not been effective in delivering the key functions of the NDLS and the NCT.

“The delays for young drivers getting their tests were worst in Cork, and I worked extremely hard to highlight this issue,” he said.