Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on 1 June 2026.

MLA

Ms Liz Kimmins

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

1 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Transport

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5580894

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As the Member is aware, we had a site meeting a number of weeks ago. I understand the concerns, because, as he said, we share that constituency. I go up and down that road regularly, whether I am going to Gosford or coming to and from the matches. I know how busy the road is, particularly at that junction. The Member and I talked at length when we met on-site. As he knows, officials are looking at what options are available to improve safety. I have not had the feedback from that to date. Officials may have further updates when the Member meets them later this week. At this stage, it would be remiss of me to make a call on that until I see all the analysis of the options that we discussed on the day.

The key point that the Member has made about border areas is that it is so important that we are aligned on an all-island basis on what we are doing about road safety. Things do not change once you get to the border; we all experience the same challenges. Road safety is a key priority for me. As I have said previously, one death on our roads is one too many. This year already, 30 people have lost their lives on the roads; that is 30 families that have been devastated by a knock on the door. It is approximately one person every four days since the start of the year. My thoughts are with all the families and communities who are impacted on by a fatal road collision. You will be aware that we launched our road safety strategy in the North in 2024, working with our road safety partners. We aim to reduce road deaths by 50% by 2030. The strategy is steered by the road safety strategic forum, members of which include representatives from the PSNI, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Ambulance Service, DAERA, DOJ, the Department of Education and the Public Health Agency (PHA). Our latest road safety strategy action plan, which is to 2027, was launched in January and outlines specific steps and initiatives to be progressed until the end of March 2027 that will contribute towards the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. The action plan includes strategic interventions that are acknowledged to be effective, long-term policy developments and actions that will contribute to the strategic aims of safe roads, safe vehicles and safe people. Alongside our road safety partners, we focus on priority areas, including, among others, policy and legislation; enforcement; communication and awareness; and active travel. The action plan, which has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of road safety partners, including Departments and blue-light organisations, faces into priority and emerging road safety issues. Following the recent increase in fatalities, I have committed further funding in 2026-27 to ensure that vital road safety campaigns are relaunched as soon as possible. This month, three campaigns, called "Priorities", "Bike Speed" and "Bike Aware", were aired, focusing on driver behaviour and motorcyclist safety as an initial priority. Media plans for pedestrian, seat belt wearing and anti-drug-driving campaigns are being finalised and will run once the existing campaigns conclude. That approach reflects emerging priorities, including the fact that seven pedestrians have been killed this year. Anti-drug-driving is a relatively new campaign, having run for only a short period in November, but it addresses a growing and widespread issue. There is also increasing concern around seat belt use, with anecdotal evidence linking the non-wearing of seat belts to recent fatalities and serious injuries.

We are always looking at what we could consider for Shared Island funding, and there are projects with a cross-border element that could be eligible for it. There are discussions around all those projects, and Buncrana Road could be one of them. It has a cross-border benefit and could obtain that funding. We are discussing the projects that are there and will keep that on the agenda. Buncrana Road is a key one that could progress that way, if we were successful.

As I have said since the day after the court ruling last year, we are looking at other options. It would be irresponsible to go into the detail of them at this stage because our focus is on the appeal. Appealing the judgement on the three grounds on which we were unsuccessful last year is the quickest route to getting the road built. I assure the Member and the House that my focus is, ultimately, on getting the road built. We have said that we will look at other options. The situation is not as straightforward as Members portray; there are a number of factors that we have to look at, and I want to make sure that all of those are carefully considered as part of the process.

No.

As I said in response to previous questions on the issue, my focus at this point is on the appeal. That is also what my officials are focused on. The Member's points about the Climate Change Act are not the answer to all of the issues that we are dealing with at this time. We will consider everything in the round, as I said, but we have to ensure that it is carefully considered so that we can move forward and make good progress.

900 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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