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N22 tragedy highlights infrastructure failures
A motion of no confidence in the Road Safety Authority (RSA), put forward by Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae, was passed unanimously at the January meeting of Kerry County Council on Monday.
The move reflects a cross-party frustration with the national agency’s effectiveness, especially following a recent fatal crash on a stretch of the N22 that had already been flagged as high-risk by experts.
The motion was supported by members from across the Council chamber and reflected growing concern at the direction, priorities, and effectiveness of the RSA, particularly in the context of rising road fatalities.
According to RSA figures, approximately 185 people lost their lives on public roads in Ireland in 2025, one of the highest figures in over a decade. Eight of those deaths occurred in County Kerry.
Speaking following the meeting, Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae said the figures represented a clear failure of national road safety leadership. “Despite unprecedented levels of legislation, enforcement, and penalties on our roads, fatalities are going up. That tells us that something is fundamentally wrong with how road safety is being managed at national level,” he said.
The motion specifically criticised what Cllr Healy-Rae described as the RSA’s over-reliance on expensive advertising and "spin."
He highlighted the 30km/h speed limit campaign, which cost nearly €1 million in production and media fees, while real-world engineering issues remain ignored.
Warnings ignored on the N22
A central issue raised during the debate was the neglect of road infrastructure safety.
Cllr Healy-Rae pointed to warnings from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which previously identified the N22 corridor as a route where additional deaths and serious injuries were inevitable without urgent upgrades.
That warning was tragically borne out on Saturday, January 10, when a man in his 40s lost his life in a two-car collision at Dromadeesirt.
This follows years of local demands for the construction of the new Farranfore to Killarney bypass to remove traffic from dangerous, substandard sections of the existing road.
“Dangerous junctions, poor alignments, and substandard roads cannot be fixed by advertising campaigns,” Cllr Healy-Rae said. “Engineering and infrastructure save lives, and they are being neglected by the RSA because it is not a ‘sexy’ enough issue for them.”
While the motion contrasted the RSA’s approach with local efforts including Kerry County Council’s appointment of a Road Safety Officer and the funding of school wardens Cllr Healy-Rae warned that local authorities must also act.
He urged the Council to use its own resources to fix dangerous junctions rather than waiting on central grants that may never arrive.
The unanimously passed motion now calls for a fundamental re-evaluation of the RSA’s role, demanding a shift from "slogans and messaging" to practical, evidence-based interventions that actually reduce road deaths.
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