So far in 2024, more than 30 people have died on our roads, each death an utter human tragedy and devastating for families and friends. Roughly one life has been lost every other day since the new year. This is a shocking figure. We see that fewer than 5% of people told to hand over their learner permit following conviction for a road traffic offence comply with the law. Will the Government take on a stronger role in ensuring road safety measures are put in place?

Will it act also on the safety of transport workers? This week, SIPTU revealed that a staggering 80% of transport workers had reported having suffered abuse at work. Last year, I sought plans from the Ministers for Transport and Justice to ensure measures on road safety would be put in place and to ensure safety for transport workers, but I heard then that no specific data was collected on assaults on transport workers and that safety measures were matters for individual operators, not for the Government. Can we see a change in policy for transport workers' safety, and particularly for road safety for all of us?

First, we are all shocked by the terrible loss of life on our roads. There were about 188 road fatalities in 2023, the highest since 2014, when the figure was 192. As of 21 February, 32 people had lost their lives, in 29 collisions on Irish roads, an increase of two deaths on this time last year. A lot of young people are losing their lives. I get a sense that post-Covid, something has happened on our roads and I cannot quite put my finger on it. We need to do deeper analysis, because the figures are going up, not down. A ministerial committee on road safety, attended by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and the Minister of State with responsibility for justice, Deputy James Browne, has been established and meets quarterly. It met recently, in the past week or so, to identify priority actions and there are a whole range of those.

I thank the Tánaiste.

We are on this in terms of legislative changes.