Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

Speeding continues to be a major contributory factor in the deaths and injuries on our roads. The best way to ensure greater compliance with speed limits is a wider deployment of speed cameras. The purpose of these cameras is to encourage road users to remain within the speed limit, particularly in locations where dangers of speed related crashes are known to arise. I welcome the Minister's assurance that there will be no direct link between the fees paid to the private operators of these cameras and the number of detections.

I served on Dublin County Council from 1991 and South Dublin County Council from 1994. During my tenure as mayor, between 1999 and 2000, the council twinned with Bad Segeberg in Germany, for reasons which I could never figure out. On one of the few visits I paid to that northern German town, I observed the effective use it made of speed cameras. People became aware when they passed cameras and the town made significant amounts of money from the fines it imposed.

Speed cameras could be effective in changing people's attitudes. I do not want to criticise the gardaí but I have often been asked why they hide in bushes or behind walls along the Belgard Road. Somebody else may be able to defend these tactics but if they prevent speeding, that is welcome. I support the target of checking 11.1 million vehicles for speeding annually. While there will be many loud complaints during the early days of speed cameras, they are a necessary part of the strategic approach to road safety.

Other colleagues remarked on the importance of maintaining roads in good repair. There is a fine network of roads around Tallaght but a number of gaps remain in that regard. The people in south-west Dublin realise the need for an extension to the Tallaght bypass, as do drivers taking the shortcut to County Wicklow. Where the need for extensions to the road network is identified, we have to make sure the NRA responds. I do not wish to be parochial but the Tallaght bypass is a dangerous road on which people have been hurt and killed. I will continue to raise that important issue.

I am a strong supporter of the Garda Síochána and have been since I first moved to Tallaght in 1969. I come from an era in which the only contact I had with gardaí was when they tried to take the ball I played with on the roads of Crumlin but we should not underestimate the contribution they make to road safety. The establishment of a dedicated Garda traffic corps with an allocation of 60 officers per quarter represents a significant delivery on the Government's commitment to meeting the immediate challenges presented by those who continue to perpetrate traffic offences.

It is important that we are having this debate. I have listened carefully to the contributions of my colleagues and realise the problems encountered by Deputies are duplicated throughout the country. I commend this Bill to the House and look forward to supporting it.

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