Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The outsourcing of the operation of safety cameras commenced in November 2010 and they reached full operational capacity in March 2011. The contract is for five years, from November 2010, with an option to extend for one further year. Provision had not been made for the gross cost of the contract in the Estimates due to the budgetary constraints operating in recent years. That is part of the explanation.

What had happened was that an arrangement was arrived at in the Estimate for the Vote in that a nominal amount is initially allocated as appropriations-in-aid. That is actually moving on a little also. It is important to note that receipts generated from the GoSafe system are only part of the fixed-charge notice receipts in the Garda Vote. The intake from this source in 2012 and 2013 amounted to €4.6 million and €4.4 million, respectively.