Mr. Con O'Donohue:

The GoSafe vans are deployed based on analysis of five years of collision data on a rolling basis. Last year, the number of zones monitored increased from 518 to 727, which was achieved through the removal of some of the original zones and the addition of new ones. These 727 zones are in areas where approximately 48% of all fatalities occur. We now propose to reduce the number of zones monitored. To clarify, with regard to the reduction by 40% in the zones, this is based not on the national figure but on the percentage of road deaths. For example, of the 190 deaths that occurred last year, 17% occurred in zones. The percentage in respect of the figure for previous years was 30%. We do not factor in the overall reduction in road deaths across Europe and in Ireland. While we take that into account, our baseline figure is a percentage of our yearly figure. In this regard, we are successful.

The robot vans are deployed to other areas of the road network. People are not made aware of their location. They could be located in areas of high traffic volumes at different times each day. GoSafe is a 24-7, 365-day operation. These vans are also located in rural areas. Members will be aware of the significant percentage of deaths that took place for many years during the early hours of Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. GoSafe is operated based on trends in particular areas on different days of the week and different times of the day. In terms of policing, the 727 zones account for 2.7% of the road network. However, this is a significant percentage based on the level of collisions in those areas. The number of fatalities in these areas is disproportionately high. There has been a significant improvement in these areas.

As stated by the acting Garda Commissioner, the remainder of our enforcement strategies are based in the other 97% of the road network. For example, if a robot van is placed in an area previously monitored by a GoSafe van, we do not make people aware of it. This is often done on busy roads with huge volumes of traffic. It is important to get the message out and to remind people to slow down. They do not have the same knowledge of what we are doing in these areas and, as such, the impact in terms of compliance is not the same. However, it is does have a gradual effect. It is this consistent approach in small areas that has brought about the changes, thus reducing the number of fatalities and injuries.