Splitting up Road Safety Authority 'a good soundbite' but better to 'reform it from within', minister says

Review recommended radical reform of the organisation after sharp rise in deaths on Irish roads

Oireachtas transport committee chair expressed concern about the number of gardaí working in roads policing, with recent figures suggesting the number of such gardaí has fallen by 40% since 2009. Picture. Robbie Reynolds

Splitting up the Road Safety Authority (RSA) would be “fine and dandy” and a “good soundbite”, but it would be better to reform the organisation from within, the roads safety minister has said.

At the Oireachtas transport committee, Sean Canney said he had concluded the quickest way was to reform the approach of the RSA, and he would be concerned at how long it would take to put a new structure in place if it was split up.

“My decision was we would not split up the RSA, because we feel we can actually reform it from within and keep the elements that are working well going well, and to improve the elements that are not working well and to improve them fairly fast,” he said.

“If we were to split up the RSA, we would need legislation.” 

In 2024, an independent review of the RSA recommended radical reform of the organisation, with driver and vehicle testing and licensing given over to a new body. It came after criticism of the organisation as deaths on Irish roads began to rise sharply in the years following the pandemic.

Last year, 190 road deaths were recorded, with another 80 fatalities so far this year, according to Garda figures.

Prior to the last general election, then transport minister Eamon Ryan said the RSA would be split into two agencies, but the new Government rolled back on this and opted not to undertake this reform of the organisation.

The Oireachtas committee is preparing a report with recommendations on how to improve road safety in Ireland, with members strongly indicating a break-up of the RSA will feature in their recommendations.

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said the committee had heard “detailed, often very disturbing evidence” from experts in the field and families of fatal road crash victims, but there was one common thread among the different groups.

“The point that all these diverse organisations agree on is that they don’t have confidence in the RSA any more,” he said. “Can you tell me, and can you tell these organisations, why they are wrong to have lost confidence in their RSA?” 

Sinn Féin TD Louis O’Hara said he received a parliamentary reply three months ago that Mr Canney’s officials were preparing revised reform proposals of the RSA that would be presented to the Government in the coming weeks.

“We’re still in the dark in terms of what your plans are for the RSA, and we are going in the wrong direction in terms of the road fatality numbers,” he said. “The RSA, in its current form, is not fit for purpose.” 

Mr Canney said he expected these proposals to be completed in the next week or two, which would set out a “new way of doing business within the RSA”.

“I think it is better to have it right than to have it rushed,” he said.

Committee chair and Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy expressed concern about the number of gardaí working in roads policing. Recent figures have suggested the number of such gardaí has fallen by 40% since 2009.

“It’s really important that we have clear targets, during the lifetime of this Government,” Mr Murphy said.