The chairman of the National Safety Council has said investment in the State's road infrastructure will be a "crunch issue" for the Department of Finance in the upcoming budget.
Speaking in the wake of three road deaths in Co Limerick last night, Mr Eddie Shaw said this morning the road infrastructure was "improving all the time" but more money was needed to save lives.
"This is simply coming down, now, to a matter of investment and undoubtedly it is going to be a crunch issue this year for the Department of Finance," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"At a time of scarce budgetary resources the question is will the Department of Finance recognise the benefit, in both financial terms and in the absence of pain and suffering to our community, when we can show that we can dramatically reduce the incidences of deaths and injuries on our roads by proper investment".
He defended the penalty points system saying: "Penalty points has only just begun. The impact of this is going to accumulate over a lengthy period of time.
"Behaviour is changing because of enforcement primarily plus the work done by the Safety Council, the medical bureau, the Department of Transport and many others," Mr Shaw added.