Annual Report 2009(PDF) - Road Safety Authority

Freedom of Information (FOI)
The RSA is not covered by the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Acts as enabling legislation is required to extend
the provisions to the organisation. According to the
Department of Finance, who has responsibility for the Acts,
the process of extending the FOI Acts to the RSA is now
underway. Pending such extension, the RSA has decided to
conduct its business in as open and transparent a manner as
possible and operates as if the FOI Acts do apply.
During 2009, eight Freedom of Information requests were
handled by the RSA under this arrangement.
In June 2009, the RSA completed its registration process with
the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, thereby
fulfilling its obligations under the Data Protection legislation.
During 2009, no access requests under the Data Protection
Acts were received.
Plain English Policy
The OECD’s International Adult Literacy Survey found that one
in four, that is, about half a million - Irish adults aged between
16-64 have problems with even the simplest literacy tasks.
In response, the Road Safety Authority has introduced a
‘plain English’ policy on all its public road safety information
leaflets and booklets.
The RSA consults with the National Adult Literacy Agency
(NALA) to secure the ‘plain English’ stamp of approval on
such publications.
NALA only provide the logo one document at a time
when it approves that the language and layout are
clear enough for the intended reader.
Communications Department
The Communications Department supported the various
Directorates with a press office function both in and out of
office hours throughout 2009. Approximately 80 press
releases were issued ranging from road safety campaign
announcements, publication of reports / research studies
and road safety alerts. In addition the Department responded
to hundreds of media queries from the national and local
media.
The Communications Department provides the RSA
Directorates with the following communications support:
• Advertising
• Sponsorship
• Promotions
• Event management
• New media / digital marketing
• Press relations
• Public relations
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