Michael Healy Rae claims Road Safety Authority advert cost more than annual funding for Kerry’s road schemes

The RSA recently spent €800,000 on one single television advert for its 30kmph town campaign, Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae told the Dáil.

Yet Kerry County Council was allocated only €550,000 for the entire county to progress road safety schemes, he said.

The 30kmph advert is “a glorified tourism advert for the town of Clonakilty” in Co Cork, Mr Healy Rae said, adding that this was his personal opinion.

The Taoiseach disagreed with the comparison, however, saying that “behavioural science shows the importance of those impactful ads”.

Mr Healy Rae said: “Money is being squandered on TV adverts that have little or no effect.

“It would be far better spent in our county councils to effect real changes on our roads.

“They are the people who are out in bad weather trying to keep roads clear, filling potholes, doing tarring and skirting, laying surface dressing and doing maintenance work on all of our behalf,” Mr Healy Rae.

“I want to compliment every one of those people here today and acknowledge their work in wet and inclement weather,” he said.

The Taoiseach said Mr Healy Rae was raising valid and important points about road safety “and we want to build a political and societal consensus around road safety”.

But he added: “Everybody in this House can think of some of the impactful ads that have been broadcast over the years and the impact they have had in generating conversations.

“On roads, I would respectfully say that the €550,000 refers to five specific roads projects under the title of road safety schemes.

“The totality of funding we provide to Kerry for regional and local road networks, which has a contribution to road safety, is €30.14m for this year.”

Mr Healy Rae also said: “The Government is looking at driver behaviour and saying speed limits should be reduced from 100kmph to 80 km/h, from 80kmph to 60kmph and from 60kmph to 40kmph.

“I do not agree with that. I would never vote for that. Simplistic political reactionary actions such as that are not what is required. What is required is to fund us, for instance in County Kerry and every other county in the country.

“I ask the Government to look at the bigger picture, the deer roaming onto our roads and the fact local authorities are not cutting hedges and keeping trees back to gives us sight distance on our road.

“If the Government is serious about saving lives on our roads, the local authorities will need a massive increase in funding for road safety schemes.”