Government needs to do more to tackle rising toll of road deaths – Harris

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

The government needs to do more to tackle the rise in road deaths in Ireland, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.

Mr Harris has suggested examining the roles and functions of the Road Safety Authority as one of the steps that might be considered.

The Taoiseach raised the issue during a visit to Donegal on Friday.

A man and a woman aged in their 70s died in a car crash in the county on Wednesday.

Mr Harris said: “It has been a very bleak number of days on Irish roads with a number of fatalities including here in this county.

“I must reiterate my real concern in terms of the rising number of fatalities we are seeing on Irish roads.

“We were making good progress as a country when it came to road safety and a reduction in the number of road fatalities and I really do think now that all of us an individual motorists obviously need to reflect on the actions that we can take as we go about our activities during the course of this weekend.

“Of course our hearts go out to all of the families who have been impacted, who have lost loved ones in recent days.”

He added: “From a policy point of view the government is giving consideration to what more we can do.

“The Road Safety Authority has done an excellent job over several years, do we now need to examine its roles and functions?

“Do we need to look at the supports, resources and empowerments that we give to the Road Safety Authority?

“I certainly believe we are at a moment now that more needs to be done when it comes to road safety and of course that involves government doing more.

“But it also obviously involves each and every one of us reflecting on what we can all do in our own individual lives.”