Insurers blame State for road carnage

FED-UP insurers are refusing to increase their contributions to the National Safety Council, saying the Government is not taking road safety seriously.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) gave just €1.2 million to the council last year, despite its members sharing in record motor insurance profits of €329m. The organisation has not increased its annual contribution since 2001 and does not plan to give any more next year either.

The news comes after another black weekend on the country's roads, four deaths since Friday bringing the toll so far this year to 324. This month, 42 people have died, almost double the 22 deaths recorded during October last year.

The IIF, whose members would see profits rise further if road accidents decreased, has blamed Government inaction on the carnage for forcing it to limit its commitments to the National Safety Council.

"We feel our interest in road safety is not being matched by the Government," said IIF corporate affairs manager Niall Doyle. "Are we getting enough bang for our buck? We don't think so. We're not necessarily going to withdraw funding from the council. But we do wonder if there are better ways to spend our money and get better results."

The council itself which might have been expected to criticise the IIF instead agrees with the organisation.

"(The IIF) are repeatedly getting promises from the Government that certain things will be delivered in a reasonable period of time, only to be let down," said the council's acting chief executive, Alan Richardson.

"They think: 'If we invest more money in the National Safety Council, there will be no payback for us.'"

Chief among the IIF's gripes about the Government's response to the growing death toll is their failure to introduce random breath testing and the fact that just four of the 69 penalty point offences are being applied despite the system being rolled out three years ago.

The IIF is also unimpressed by the Government's financial contribution to the council. Last year, this came to just under €4m, and €1m of that was for the information campaign on the metrification of speed limits.

The comments illustrate a damning lack of confidence in the State body responsible for promoting road safety on the day the Government unveils its ambitious 10-year transport plan.

That lack of confidence has permeated the council itself, as recent remarks by its chairman, Eddie Shaw, prove.

He warned two Oireachtas committees that the proposed Road Safety Authority a new body the Government is establishing to replace the council would fail if it was not given adequate resources.

"The risk is that the authority will become another administrative construct like the National Safety Council today trapped in a failed and fatally flawed process, a process that is in every sense corrupt," he said.

Mr Richardson, meanwhile, said there was little point asking the IIF to increase its contribution when the Government was failing to invest sufficiently in the council.

The Department of Transport did not immediately respond to the new criticisms. However, last week, Transport Minister Martin Cullen said the current Government was the first to introduce a dedicated road safety strategy.