LOVED ONES OF road traffic collision victims have told TDs that families are deprived of information during inquests into their deaths.

Donna Price, the founder of the Irish Road Victims Association (IRVA), told an Oireachtas Joint Committee today that families are “very much on the periphery” of investigations into road traffic collisions.

Price added that the notice period given for inquests “can be very short, it might just be a couple of weeks”, and described it as the only opportunity that families have to look for information on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of their loved ones.

The Joint Committee on Transport met today for engagement on road safety with representatives from IRVA and Headway.

The committee heard calls for a more transparent and faster system, alongside reforms to ensure bereaved families are supported from the outset.

David Mullins, a solicitor and board member with IRVA, mentioned that some families are waiting between six and 18 months for an inquest to be held into their loved ones’ deaths, and that “there seems to be no urgency” to move in sync with the statute of limitations, which is two years.

Richard Stables, information and support manager with Headway, said that some family members, whose loved ones had long-term brain injuries, said that “it would have been better if he hadn’t survived” and “there are worse things than death”.

190 people died on Irish roads last year, which was the highest level in over a decade.

According to Garda figures, 2026 is following a similar rate of road deaths.

Price also added that she is not sure if she was in favour of splitting the RSA, referring to the scrapped plans to disband the RSA into two separate entities.

In late 2024, the government had announced the intention to split the RSA into two agencies, one responsible for services and the other for road safety.

This decision was reversed a year later.