There is not the “political will” to introduce tough new legislation to tackle road deaths, Shane Ross has claimed. 

Last year, 184 people died on Ireland’s roads - a 19% increase on the figures for 2022.

So far, 2024 has been even more lethal, with 69 road fatalities in the first four months of the year - compared to 53 in 2023.

Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Mr Ross described it as a “really serious emergency”.

“We’re hitting levels never hit before and we are the laggard in Europe - we were the worst last year in Europe.”

The former Transport Minister said the issue has become a “political football” with both politicians and the RSA keen to blame lack of enforcement as the main driver of the figures.

It is not an analysis he agrees with.

“If there are more Guards on the road, it would be better,” he said.

“But the evidence that I have and that I had as a Minister, it is quite clear there is no political will - particularly among the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers - to introduce the type of tough legislation which is necessary to get this particular problem in order.”

Gardaí at the scene of a crash that killed three people in County Carlow, 01-02-2024. Image: asko Lazarov/RollingNews

Instead, Mr Ross described speeding as the “principle problem” and insisted “nobody disputes that”.

As a minister, he drafted legislation on the issue but encountered stiff resistance from his Cabinet colleagues.

“I brought it to the Cabinet and there was murder in the Cabinet from my Fine Gael colleagues,” he said.

“They didn’t like it, they didn’t like penalising speeding.

“I had the same experience when I introduced drink driving; the backbenchers in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael didn’t like it - we forced it through with gritted teeth.

“The speeding bill I was forced to - that is absolute fact.

“I was forced to dilute the penalties because a large number of Ministers didn’t like it.”

Flowers for victims of a road traffic crash. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Mr Ross said then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar “supported me completely” but told him their colleagues could not be persuaded.

“He came to me just before the Cabinet and he said, ‘We’re going to have to dilute it, the boys won’t take it’,” Mr Ross recalled.

“And they didn’t and we have to dilute it - but it was better than nothing.”

Last month, the President signed into law the Road Traffic Bill 2024 which reduced speed limits, reformed penalty points and mandated drug testing at the scene of a crash.

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Main image: Shane Ross arriving at Dublin Castle in June 2020. Picture by: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland