Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality
Policing Matters: Garda Commissioner
2:00 pm
Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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My final question relates to the Garda response when traffic hold-ups occur. There was an accident on the M50 this morning and much of the traffic in the north city was very slow-moving and many people were late getting to work. A rail strike took place on a Friday morning about a fortnight ago, and Malahide Road, Howth Road and Clontarf Road were all full of slow-moving traffic. There was a complete standstill in Fairview. People commented to me that they did not see any gardaí on the street. People do not behave very correctly when this kind of situation arises. They try to drive through red lights, and this makes the situation worse. There is a need for a Garda presence, particularly at these junctions where one finds several roads intersecting. People commented that they did not see anybody on that particular morning. These kind of things happen unexpectedly as well. Is a strategy in place to deal with a traffic standstill that occurs for whatever reason?