Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív was right about enforcement. That point has been made by many people. Deputies Robert Troy, Kevin O'Keeffe, Catherine Murphy and Imelda Munster also raised it and I accept that it has been a problem. It is a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality. I am not washing my hands of it in any way, but I cannot speak for that Department. What I will say is that it was a serious problem, as the number of personnel in the traffic corps was decreasing. I have some figures. At the end of 2013 the number of personnel in the traffic corps was 804. In 2014 it had decreased to 742. In 2015 it had decreased to 716. By the end of 2016 it had decreased to 674. The Deputies are right, in that this has been a difficulty. I am not saying it has been sorted, but I will discuss what has happened since. There was a target to increase Garda traffic corps numbers by 10% in 2017 and a further 10% in 2018.