Mr. Drew Harris:

I will address the speed camera issue. An additional €1.2 million is being spent on the GoSafe vans for the remainder of this year and the contract for vans will increase next year. Planning is put into where those vans are placed but I would like to take this further in developing static, in effect, speed cameras and, if we can manage it as well, static average speed cameras. There are only a couple of areas in the country covered with the genuine average speed camera situation and they make a big difference. We want to extend the infrastructure and that can be done with temporary cameras and fixtures. The technology exists and we wish to apply it.

I understand the point the Senator made about shooting fish in a barrel but this is also about behaviours on the road. It is not for the individual driver to decide this is a clear stretch of road, there are not many accidents here, therefore, this speed limit is only advisory; it is not. Collisions are happening. There are many single-vehicle collisions that end up in fatalities. Very often, they are a result of excess speed. We must change drivers’ attitude to the speed they are doing on the road. That is then coupled with driving under the influence, be it drink or drugs. All of these, in terms of driver behaviour, are important. We often talk about accidents but a great majority of these are collisions where there has been some, in effect, blameworthy activity that has led to the collision occurring, and often with tragic circumstances, as we are all aware.

In respect of the recruitment and retention strategy, I will turn to Ms Cooke to set out some of the work that has been undertaken.