Byrne wishes to retain RSA role

BROADCASTER GAY Byrne has said he would like to continue in his role as chairman of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) when his current five-year term expires next month.

Mr Byrne was appointed as interim chairman in March 2006 before the authority was formally established later that year.

He said that while the appointment of a new chairman and board was a decision for Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, “my instinct would be to stay on a little while longer. I am awaiting a decision from the minister”.

Mr Byrne also said he could see merit in reappointing some of the members of the current board to ensure continuity.

Last night, a Department of Transport spokesman said Mr Varadkar was considering the appointment of a new RSA board and chairman.

“No decision will be made on either appointments, or reappointments, until after the Cabinet meets on August 30th at the earliest, as he has to consult with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste before making any appointments,” the spokesman said.

Mr Byrne said he was still committed to improving road safety and said the organisation was developing its next road safety strategy to be implemented during 2012 to 2017.

He said two ongoing problems still required significant attention: changing a “culture of speeding”, and addressing the driving behaviour of 17 to 24-year-olds.

“As a country we just drive too fast, and this is probably seen at its worst in Co Donegal. We all drive too fast for no reason, it is not as if we are rushing to hospital. We just drive too damn fast.”

He said that, for many people, their first realisation of a speed limit would come when a speeding fine letter arrived. Following the roll-out of the new privatised speed cameras earlier this year, he said motorists would have to “slow down or pay up”.

At the time of his appointment, Mr Byrne warned that if he encountered any lack of co-operation or red tape from the Government, he would resign and call a news conference to explain why.

Yesterday, he said during his time as chairman “dealing with civil servants has proved to be a patience-consuming business”.

Mr Byrne has been linked to the presidential race in recent days but he declined to comment further on this matter yesterday. Mr Byrne celebrated his birthday last week and described himself as a “young 77-year-old”.

In 2006, when the RSA was established, 365 people died on Irish roads. Last year this fell to 211, below a target of 250 set in the Road Safety Strategy.

Mr Byrne said no matter how good the performance of the RSA had been over its first five years, it will become “exponentially more effective” over the coming years because of the systems and structures it had put in place.