[12] Other initiatives include the recommendation of a number of changes to Ireland's National Car Test, which is supervised by the RSA, requiring vehicles older than ten years to be tested every year as opposed to biennially, while stricter controls will be introduced on non-functioning fault warning lights, overly noisy exhausts, and tinted windows and windscreens.
[13] In 2008 the Road Safety Authority received information from vehicle checking agency Cartell about the issue of written off cars from the UK being imported, repaired and registered for use in Ireland.
[14] The subsequent Irish Times article provoked an investigation by the Garda Siochána, Vehicle Registration Unit, Road Safety Authority and Revenue Commissioners.
This resulted in a change to legislation so that from September 2010 all imported vehicles must be taken to a National Car Test Centre for inspection before being registered in Ireland.
[21][22] The RSA was mentioned in relation to public agencies continuing to operate outside of the remit of the Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner, in a speech delivered by Emily O'Reilly in 2010.
The report came in the wake of ongoing criticism of the authority over its response to rising road deaths and ahead of meetings to discuss its future, and was described as "the final nail in the coffin of the RSA as currently constituted".
[31] Also in April 2024, an investigation by RTÉ's Prime Time found that over 24,000 drivers who had been disqualified by the courts between 2016 and 2022 had failed to relinquish their licences.
The road safety advocacy group, PARC was critical of the fact that the RSA does not have a procedure to automatically inform the gardaí when a licence has not been surrendered.
[33] On the 29 April 2024, a spokesperson for the RSA was challenged by Matt Cooper on the Today FM Last Word programme about the Authority's silence in the face of opposition to proposed road safety interventions.
[34] In May 2024, Social Democrats TD, Catherine Murphy described as "incredible" a decision by the RSA not to appear before the Public Accounts Committee.
[35] The invitation came on foot of a request by Green Party chief whip, Marc Ó Cathasaigh citing concerns about the sharing of collision data.
[38] On 15 May 2024, the Dáil passed a Private Member's Motion on Road Safety and Maintenance tabled by Labour TD, Duncan Smith calling for a new strategy from the RSA "that addresses the concerns of all road users including cycling and pedestrian groups" and for "the sharing of traffic collision location data covering both fatalities and injuries between the RSA and local authorities".
[42] In July 2024, it was reported that there would be a "major overhaul" of the authority with a separation of the driver and vehicle testing services from the public interest role in road safety advocacy, with some functions moving closer to the Department of Transport[43] In August 2024, Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan confirmed that "major changes are on the way" for the Authority which would likely see a separation of responsibilities, while Minister for State, James Lawless said that he believed the agency itself “needs change”, saying that it may need to go “back to basics”.
[44] Taoiseach, Simon Harris supported the proposal to remove the licensing and vehicle testing roles from the Authority saying "We do need an agency dedicated wholly and exclusively to road safety and advocacy".
[50] It later emerged that a director of the RSA had dismissed the criticism as "silly season coverage", while the chairperson, Liz O’Donnell had advised against withdrawing the ad fearing that the "high production cost and media buying" would lead to further controversy for the Authority and be seen as a "waste of public money".
It was also announced that Minister Eamon Ryan would appoint a new chairperson of the Authority to replace the outgoing chair, Liz O’Donnell.