Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

In recent years, in line with a commitment made by this and previous Governments, the number of members of the Garda traffic corps, which was specifically set up to target road traffic offences, has been increased. The commitment was made to 1,200 members and that level has been reached. The members are dedicated primarily to road traffic duties. The effects of that change are clear to see. I accept the point that in the past the level of visibility, testing and enforcement was not as high but that is not something that can be said, especially in the past five years. The traffic corps is proving effective. As the Deputy has acknowledged on a number of occasions we are reducing the number of deaths and injuries on the roads. I expect that the current level of enforcement will be maintained or increased because the traffic corps is a dedicated part of the force and it should be able to organise its work in such a way that testing can be carried out during ordinary hours of duty.

See this speech in context