Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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It was with amazement that I read media reports that the Government is considering abandoning plans for the roll-out of speed cameras because of the higher than anticipated cost of the programme. The road safety strategy is in a shambles and will be critically undermined by the Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Transport if the roll-out of speed cameras does not proceed. The core excuse of excessive cost seems ludicrous, given that the administrative and monitoring cost of the 600 locations is approximately €25 million per year, well below the expected €70 million that would be generated in revenue. Given the significant speed factor in car collisions, fatalities and serious injuries, it must be asked how this cost of €25 million per annum can be regarded as more important than the approximately €700 million cost of tragic crash fatalities in 2007.

There are still just three fixed speed cameras on Irish roads, rotating between 20 locations, although the rollout of speed cameras has been part of national road safety strategies for the past ten years. The new road safety strategy of 2007 to 2012 had a commitment for the provision of 6,000 hours of speed camera detection per month by the second quarter of 2008, in other words, next month or the following month. The Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, will remember that was action No. 26 of the Road Safety Authority programme. It would be astonishing if the Government were now to drop this key target altogether less than five months into the lifetime of the new road safety strategy.

Speed cameras are the norm in most of our European Union partner states, which have a much better traffic collision record than ours. Government-commissioned research has established that a five-fold increase in cameras could reduce serious crashes by more than 20%. The Government-commissioned report in 2002, The Use of Speed Cameras in Ireland, by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne stated, "The social and community benefits of a successful speed camera programme are high, with between 30% and 50% reduction in the costs of road trauma being saved by the implementation of a successful road safety strategy." I believe that could amount to perhaps €500 million over five years. The experience in the Australian state of Victoria has found that to develop the societal attitude that if one speeds, one will be caught and prosecuted, some 60% of the jurisdictional fleet must have their speed checked statistically every month. The programme we intended to embark on would have enabled speed to be checked every two months.

Ten years ago, in 1998, the Taoiseach promised the rollout of a network of speed cameras in the road safety strategy, Road To Safety. The 2004 to 2006 road safety strategy again proposed this as a key objective and again failed to deliver it. On 1 August 2005, following a Cabinet decision of 25 July 2005 at which the Ceann Comhairle was present, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, and the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, again agreed to proceed with approximately 500 to 600 speed camera locations nationwide. I understand that a competitive tendering process was undertaken and that six bidders were shortlisted to provide speed camera detection services at 600 locations around the country.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform was often quoted in recent years, including prior to the general election, as stating the award of the speed camera contract was "imminent". Yet, in December 2007, we were still waiting for the decision, and now we are being told that due to "cost issues" the decision taken in 2005 will not proceed.

Just last week the chairman of the Road Safety Authority, Mr. Gay Byrne, strongly criticised the ongoing Government failure on speed cameras, saying it was disgraceful. Today's reports on the possible abandonment of the speed camera programme are very demoralising for the chairman of the Road Safety Authority, Mr. Gay Byrne, its chief executive, Mr. Noel Brett, and the hardworking and dedicated Road Safety Authority workforce. The speed camera rollout must remain a key component of the overall road safety strategy. Information gained from research in the United Kingdom clearly shows a major reduction in casualties from collisions. We should allow Mr. Gay Byrne, Mr. Noel Brett and all their staff to do the job they were charged with by this House and by the Minister, by providing the proper funding for the long-promised and critical road safety programme and, in particular, for the rollout of speed cameras.

We accept we need a mix of measures to cut back on the savage casualty rate on Irish roads. These include the introduction of random breath testing, the new penalty points system, the new learner driver system and, above all, the new traffic corps. The Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, may refer to that as I read an earlier press release from the Department on the traffic corps. I accept we need the promised 1,200 gardaí in the traffic corps but the information I have from the Road Safety Authority and from road safety bodies elsewhere, including the UK, where there is a vicious campaign against cameras by people who want to continue speeding rampantly on British roads, is that we need speed cameras. We should proceed with them without delay. They were promised for the second quarter of 2008. I urge the Minister to carry out the road safety strategy.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this matter and for giving me an opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who unfortunately is unable to be present.

I assure the Deputy that the Minister and I share his concern and that of the public in general about the unacceptable level of fatalities and serious injuries on our roads. At the same time, we should not lose sight of the fact that significant progress is being made. I believe that has been acknowledged. The Road Safety Authority recently published the Road Collision Factbook 2006. It notes that over the last decade the death rate, as measured against the number of vehicles on the road, has more than halved. In 1996, the fatality rate per million registered vehicles was 338. By 2006, the rate had fallen to 159 per million registered vehicles. Road users are twice as safe now compared to ten years ago. I spent time in the Department of Transport. I accept one life is too many to lose and this reduction is no solace for the many families who have lost their loved ones in accidents.

Looking at the overall figures, the trend in fatal traffic collisions has been favourable for the past three years. The number has decreased from 396 in 2005 to 365 in 2006 and 338 last year. These figures represent a reduction of 8%, followed by a reduction of 7%, year-on-year. The figure for last year is the second lowest in the past ten years. When the level of road deaths is measured against our overall population, Ireland's rate in 2006, the latest year for which international comparative information is available, moved us up to 12th out of the then EU 25. We cannot and will not become complacent over these statistics, as even one death or injury on our roads is too much.

The Departments and agencies responsible for road safety are tackling rigorously driver behaviour such as speeding in the context of the Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012. In particular, the Garda Síochána continues to focus its enforcement activity on the main causes of death and serious injury on our roads, which include speeding, along with drink driving and non-wearing of seatbelts. The Garda policing plan for 2008 aims to increase by 10% in the course of the year detection of speeding, driving while intoxicated and also road transport offences. In 2007, there were approximately 200,000 speeding detections, giving an average detection rate per month of approximately 16,500.

At the request of the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the Garda established the Garda traffic corps in 2004, with a supporting command structure, equipment and resources. The traffic corps ensures the necessary enforcement capacity to achieve increased compliance with road traffic law. The increase in the personnel strength of the traffic corps, which will reach its planned level of 1,200 by the end of this year, is enabling this continuing increase in enforcement activity to take place. The Deputy referred to this matter.

Detailed analysis by the Garda Síochána of collision data is under way to identify locations and times where the greatest tendency for speed-related collisions occur. Speed enforcement will be prioritised on a risk assessment basis on such locations and at such times. The public will continue to be made aware of roads which have been identified as having a propensity for speed-related collisions, including through the Garda website. Enforcement will, therefore, be on the basis of preventing death and serious injury, and drivers will be given the opportunity to modify their driving behaviour by being informed of where blackspots, and consequently Garda enforcement activity, are located.

A number of projects are under way to replace and upgrade equipment available to the Garda. The current GATSO speed detection equipment will soon be replaced by modern equipment with increased capacity. In addition, arrangements are being made to make available to the Garda state-of-the-art automated number plate recognition technology. This will give the force the ability to detect vehicles which are stolen, untaxed or otherwise brought to the attention of the Garda, in addition to being able to detect speeding drivers. The Garda will therefore not only gain improved intelligence on persons known to them, be able to deny the use of the roads to criminals and detect drivers who do not pay their motor tax, but they will also have enhanced traffic law enforcement capabilities, including the detection of speeding.

With regard to outsourcing the provision and operation of safety cameras to a service provider, following the drawing up of a shortlist and the issue of a request for tender to the market, tenders were received and evaluated. As a result of this process issues have arisen because, as the Minister informed the House recently, costs involved would be substantially higher than had been estimated when the matter was considered previously by Government. In light of these issues, the Minister intends to bring proposals before his colleagues in Government shortly taking into account issues of value for money and the commitment to reduce speeding on our roads in the context of the road safety strategy. Obviously, the Minister cannot pre-empt the outcome of the Government's consideration of these proposals. Equally, it is unwise for anyone to jump to speculative conclusions about decisions that remain to be taken. What there can be no doubt about is that saving lives through making our roads safer, including through taking effective, efficient and targeted measures to reduce speeding, will remain an absolute Government priority.