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THE U-TURN BY government not to disband the Road Safety Authority (RSA) was not a decision that was taken lightly, according to Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien.
The announcement that the RSA would be disbanded and split into two separate organisations was made in late 2024 by then Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, James Lawless.
The plan was to split the authority into two, with one new agency responsible for services and the other for road safety. It came following an independent external review of the RSA, which recommended the split.
However, in an interview with The Journal last week, the current Minister of State with responsibility for road transport, Independent TD Seán Canney, revealed that the plans have been shelved.
Since then, the decision has been condemned by road safety campaigners, those in opposition as well as some in government.
Asked about the rationale behind the move and whether the proposal had been scrapped as it would prove more costly, Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien said:
I can absolutely assure you it’s not a cost issue.
In an interview with the minister today, he said the government has increased funding for the RSA.
“So it is nothing to do with cost. We’ve actually €18 million assigned to the RSA just for awareness, education and promotional campaigns alone. So it is not a monetary consideration.
“Basically, I think it’s fair that when a new government comes in to assess what it previously may been committed to, or what a previous Minister looked at, and see whether that’s fit for purpose.
“And I don’t believe at this stage, the splitting up of the agency itself will drive the improvements that we need. I want them to focus on the core work that they have to do,” he told The Journal.
The decision comes as 2025 has seen an significant rise in road deaths compared to the year previous.
However, O’Brien said there is a new chairperson in the RSA, Anne Graham, who previously headed up the National Transport Authority (NTA).
He added that the government are looking at the structures within the RSA to improve delivery.
“From their perspective, road safety is absolutely critical. We’ve taken some significant measures in the first year of this government already in relation to reduction in speeds. And I think it’s fair to say, the big focus that Seán has had, with my support, has been on the driver testing.
“That was the first thing we really needed to do, was to deal with the backlogs that were there and to get that back on track to the 10 weeks. And we’re practically there at the moment,” he said.
The minister said he wouldn’t be “writing anything off into the future”, in terms of changes to the organisation, but said right now, it is about stabilising the organisation.
“It’s about changing the organisation as well and improving its delivery, he said, adding:
“I’m not overly hung up on, you know, effectively, the creation of two agencies. And what I want to make sure is that the RSA is directly reportable to government.
“I think that is critically important, because look, what we’ve seen this year, unfortunately, an increase in road deaths, and every single one of those deaths is a tragedy, it’s a person, it’s a family affected. Seán and I are absolutely focused on ensuring that we get better outcomes from the RSA itself, and there’s a significant piece of work underway at the moment,” concluded O’Brien.
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