John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 323: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of speed cameras on national primary, national secondary, regional and country roads; the number of cameras which are operational; if the promised contract for additional speed cameras has been put in place with a private company or companies; and the number of additional speed cameras involved. [17466/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The emphasis of Garda Síochána speed enforcement is on the use of mobile speed cameras. Their capacity in this area has been substantially enhanced recently. In September 2008, the Garda Commissioner and I launched eight new Garda mobile speed detection vehicles. These state-of-the-art vehicles represent a substantial upgrading of the resources available to the Garda to address the problem of speeding on our roads, particularly in collision prone zones. The Garda also has over 4,000 hand held speed detection devices.

In accordance with EU directives, national public procurement procedures and relevant legislation, the force is engaging in a procurement process for the provision and operation of safety cameras. As a result, a preferred supplier has been selected. Discussions are taking place between my Department, the Departments of Transport and Finance and the Garda Síochána with a view to making every effort to proceed with this project as speedily as possible. Until contract discussions are concluded, it is not possible to indicate the number of cameras that will be in operation as a result of the project. I am also informed that there are a number of fixed camera installation posts at various locations in the Dublin area and the Louth and Meath divisions. Three cameras are rotated between these posts.