Introduction

The Government Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 is Ireland’s fifth Road Safety Strategy. The primary objective of the Strategy is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% by 2030.

Delivery of the Strategy is structured around three distinct phases:

Phase 1 Action Plan: 2021-2024 Ӄ

Phase 2 Action Plan: 2025-2027 Ӄ

Phase 3 Action Plan: 2028-2030 Ӄ

The Strategy adopts the internationally recognised “Safe System” approach and each Action Plan includes actions under the seven priority intervention areas:

1. Safe and healthy modes of travel

2. Safe roads and roadsides

3. Safe vehicles

4. Safe speeds

5. Safe road use

6. Safe work-related road use

7. Post-crash response

Dividing the Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 into three Action Plans allows for reprioritisation of activities at the end of each phase based on emerging road safety trends. This provides an opportunity to leverage lessons learned in the prior phase to inform the development of the next. The review of the Phase 1 Action Plan 2021-2024 was conducted in quarter four of 2024 and quarter one of 2025, and the lessons learned emerging from this review have informed this Phase 2 Action Plan 2025-2027.

The Phase 1 review was delivered through a combination of desktop analysis and stakeholder engagement with the organisations tasked with delivering the actions in the Action Plan. In addition to this, the Road User Safety Forum was established by the Department of Transport and provided inputs to inform the Phase 2 Action Plan. The Forum comprises a mix of road users representing different interest and advocacy groups, as well as general road users representing a range of backgrounds and perspectives.

A key lesson learned from Phase 1 is that the Phase 2 Action Plan should focus on a more streamlined set of high-impact actions with clear targets. The Phase 2 Action Plan centres on a set of 12 Primary Actions which, when pursued through a collaborative partnership approach that worked well during Phase 1, aim to deliver significant or transformative impacts for road safety in Ireland. The senior stakeholders involved will be responsible for driving delivery of these primary actions. The Action Plan also includes a series of ongoing Supporting Actions by each partner that will deliver road safety objectives across Ireland.