Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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34. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action he has taken to address the concerns raised by the Road Safety Authority regarding the strength of the Garda traffic corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16490/18]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will be aware that we have volumes of road traffic legislation on the Statute Book. We also have proposed amendments to legislation in this area going through the House at present. At the same time we have a situation whereby Garda statistics in respect of breath testing cannot be relied on by policymakers or the public. In the context of recent criticism by the Road Safety Authority, RSA, of the number of personnel allocated to the Garda traffic corps, what is the Minister going to do to ensure that the traffic corps reaches the numbers that are needed to protect people in this country?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel, including the allocation of gardaí to roads policing duties, is exclusively the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

I have been informed by the Commissioner that the strength of the Garda traffic corps stood at 635 on 28 February 2018, the most recent date for which figures are to hand. In addition, I understand that there is one chief superintendent and two superintendents attached to the Dublin metropolitan region traffic corps and a superintendent and traffic inspector attached to each of the five regions. However, the Deputy will appreciate that road traffic legislation is enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of all members of An Garda Síochána as well as through targeted enforcement operations.

The current modernisation and renewal programme for An Garda Síochána places a strong emphasis on the role of the traffic corps being expanded to include crime prevention and detection on the roads through the establishment of divisional roads policing units. The policing plan for 2018 contains concrete measurable initiatives to keep our roads safe to protect lives and reduce serious injuries, including strengthening the numbers assigned to roads policing by 10% year on year. I am pleased to say that the Government has ensured that funding is in place to support the implementation of these initiatives.

This year 800 trainees will graduate from the Garda College in Templemore, 200 of whom attested last month. Taking account of projected retirements, this will see Garda numbers increase to 14,000 by the end of 2018. In this context, I understand that the Garda Commissioner intends to assign in the region of 150 additional gardaí on an incremental basis to roads policing duties this year to support better outcomes in road traffic enforcement and crime prevention.

I am informed by the Commissioner that regional competitions for assignment to roads policing duties commenced last year and that 136 gardaí and 13 sergeants have been successful in these competitions. As of last Friday, I understand that an additional ten sergeants and 71 gardaí have been assigned to roads policing units nationwide. The Commissioner expects to make further assignments in the near future.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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While I am fully aware that the allocation of resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and Equality has a responsibility to ensure effective road safety in this country. I tabled this question because at the beginning of February this year The Irish Times reported that the chief executive of the Road Safety Authority had written to the acting Garda Commissioner to express concern over the failure by the force to meet its own commitment to a 10% increase in the strength of the traffic corps by 31 December 2017. That is not merely a matter of the allocation of resources. A commitment was given by An Garda Síochána that there would be a certain percentage of gardaí allocated to road safety, but that has not happened. This failure is a matter of severe concern to the chief executive of the RSA and should also be a matter of significant concern to the Minister. I note that a commitment was made to increase the strength of the traffic corps by 10% by the end of 2017 and by 10% in the following year, 2018, but that has not happened. The statement in respect of this by a spokesperson for the RSA is noteworthy in that it says it is of serious concern that the commitment in the Garda policing plan for 2017 to increase resources incrementally for roads policing units by 10% across all regions by the end of 2017 "has not been delivered". We need to work on this.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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An Garda Síochána undertakes a programme of high visibility road safety and enforcement operations which are carried out in partnership with other State agencies. I acknowledge the work of the RSA in this regard. By working together with the RSA and other agencies, An Garda Síochána will continue to confront dangerous road user behaviour through public presence, legislative enforcement and education in a partnership manner.

Road safety is a shared responsibility and one which the Government takes very seriously. Ireland's current road safety strategy, 2013 to 2020, aims to place Ireland consistently on the list of the safest countries in the EU and beyond. To achieve this, we continue to work together in partnership with all of the relevant stakeholders. I attend meetings of the ministerial committee on road safety along with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, the RSA, An Garda Síochána, the Attorney General and other agencies. This committee, which met six times last year to oversee the implementation of the road safety strategy, provides a forum for high level discussion of road safety issues. The committee is due to meet again in the coming weeks. The policing plan commits An Garda Síochána to implementing the roads policing plan for 2018 in line with the national roads strategy, working in partnership with the RSA.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Recent research by the RSA indicates that 29% of drivers involved in fatal collisions had alcohol in their system. That is a statistic that we must take extremely seriously. We must try to resolve this problem, and the method by which we can seek to deter people from driving with alcohol in their system is to conduct a large number of breath tests on our roads. That is something that was recognised in the Crowe Horwath report which recommended that An Garda Síochána should be seeking to test 20% of the driving population annually. That is the only way to deter such behaviour. We need to ensure that more resources are allocated to the traffic corps, but since 2009 there has been a significant decline in the strength of the traffic corps in the Dublin metropolitan region. In 2009, a total of 156 members of An Garda Síochána were allocated to the traffic corps in that region, but by 2017 this had fallen to 105. That is a significant decline for which the Minister bears a responsibility.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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On the matter of resources, I am pleased to confirm to the House that some €342 million, including €217 million in additional funding under the capital plan, is being invested in the Garda ICT infrastructure between 2016 and 2021. This major investment will allow An Garda Síochána to deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in the fight against crime and will facilitate progress on important reforms. It will also ensure that road safety issues are dealt with in the manner expected. The capital plan has seen an investment of €46 million in the Garda fleet to ensure that An Garda Síochána has a modern, effective and fit for purpose fleet. This is in addition to the investment of almost €30 million in the period from 2013 to 2015. In total, over the period from 2013 to the end of 2017, almost €44 million has been invested in the fleet, with some 2,000 Garda vehicles coming on stream in that period. The national development plan provides for continued funding in these areas. While I accept that there is no room for complacency, 2017 represented the lowest number of road traffic fatalities on record, at 159. I am sure that the Deputy will agree that it is imperative that the positive momentum across road traffic enforcement and road safety initiatives is harnessed towards further annual reductions in fatalities and I am assured the plans to increase the numbers assigned to the traffic corps will support that.