Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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277. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to update the enabling legislation on red light running cameras. [50068/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, legislative provisions in relation to evidence of speeding and certain related offences are included in the Road Traffic Acts, within the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD.

In terms of enforcement, I can confirm that record resources are now being provided to An Garda Síochána - a total of €1.76 billion was allocated to the Garda Vote for 2019 and this is increasing further to a total of €1.882 billion in 2020. Very significant capital investment is also being made, amounting to a total of €92 million this year and increasing further to over €116 million in 2020. The Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient use of these resources, in light of identified operational demands.

The Deputy may also be interested to know of my Department's current work in relation to the recommendation contained in the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland that An Garda Síochána develop a plan to deploy body worn cameras. The Implementation Plan for that report - A Policing Service for the Future- includes a related action in relation to legislative preparation for deployment of body worn cameras.

In June 2019, the Government approved the drafting of the general scheme of a Bill to allow for the introduction of body worn cameras by the Gardaí. My Department is working to progress a Bill to deal with that and related matters – it is intended to publish these proposals in 2020. Both privacy and data protection issues are being fully addressed during the drafting of the general scheme of the Bill. Relevant stakeholders such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission have been consulted.