Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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24. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the measures she is taking to support Gardaí in tackling road traffic offences; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38033/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Road safety is a shared responsibility, and while the National Road Safety Strategy is led by my colleague the Minister of Transport, our responsibilities in this regard are taken very seriously across Government. We have all been shocked by the loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer.

I continue to engage with colleagues across Government to ensure that every effort is made to increase safety on our roads.

Road traffic laws are enforced by both Garda Roads Policing personnel and as part of the day-to-day duties of uniformed Gardaí nationwide. This includes a programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations carried out in partnership with other state agencies. The Commissioner has also directed that all uniform Garda members are to be deployed on high-visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes duration, in each tour of duty.

I am advised that as of 30 June 2024, the latest date for which figures were available, there were 622 Roads Policing Gardaí assigned across all Divisions.

Significant advances have been made over recent years in providing Garda members, and in particular Roads Policing Units, with the technology to effectively carry out their work. Every Garda member can now check a vehicle's insurance status while on the roadside by checking its registration on the Garda Mobility App which provides real time, up to date insurance information for every private vehicle in the country. All frontline Garda members can now issue Fixed Charge Notices directly through their personal mobility device on the side of the road, rather than completing paper tickets. The Gardaí have focused recently on distracted driving which it is estimated plays a role in 20/30% of all road collisions.

An Garda Síochána have recently deployed a new, unmarked HGV as part of its work to help reduce fatal and serious injury road traffic collisions, which will be utilised by Roads Policing Units nationwide as part of ‘Operation IOMPAR’. The introduction of ‘Operation IOMPAR’ is already yielding positive results with over 100 detections made using the HGV, the majority of which were found to be using their phone while driving.

Funding provided by the Government under Budget 2024 allows for the recruitment of new Gardaí, which will increase the number of frontline Gardaí available to the Garda Commissioner to allocate as he deems appropriate. It is expected that it will soon be possible to allocate more members to the Roads Policing units. An Garda Síochána have announced plans to add 75 Gardaí to Roads Policing this year, with a further 75 in 2025.

Budget 2024 also provided €3.6m in additional funding to be allocated for additional use of GoSafe speed cameras, with 9,000 hours of monitoring each month now in place for the whole of 2024. The Garda Commissioner has stated his aim is to have an additional 12 static road safety cameras in place by the end of this year, with a further commitment to have an additional 100 in operation by the end of 2025.

The Deputy will appreciate that, while the distribution of Garda resources is an operational matter for the Commissioner, I am assured the distribution is kept under continual review.

Coupled with the continued roll-out of the new Operating Model, I am confident that the Commissioner will have the resources and plans in place to continue to deliver on An Garda Síochána's mission of Keeping People Safe.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to detail the current strength of the Garda traffic corps. [38161/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Road safety is a shared responsibility, and while led by the Department of Transport, it is one which is taken very seriously across Government. We have all been shocked by the loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer.

I continue to engage with colleagues across Government to ensure that every effort is made to increase safety on our roads.

I am advised that as of 30 June 2024, the latest date for which figures were available, there were 622 Roads Policing Gardaí assigned across all Divisions.

Road traffic laws are enforced by both Roads Policing personnel and as part of the day-to-day duties of uniformed Gardaí nationwide. This includes a programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations carried out in partnership with other state agencies. The Commissioner has also directed that all uniform Garda members are to be deployed on high visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes duration, in each tour of duty.

While An Garda Siochána is focusing its efforts on enforcement, it is important to recognise that a multi-faceted approach is necessary to reduce fatalities and collisions that cause serious injuries, including infrastructure improvements such as road design, maintenance and safety features aligned to this are public awareness campaigns, the greater use of technology, and education and training programmes. Enforcement can only have a certain amount of impact in a nation with such a large and diverse road network. Encouraging drivers to change poor behaviours will have a much greater impact on road safety.

Significant advances have been made over recent years in providing Garda members, and in particular Roads Policing Units, with the technology to effectively carry out their work. Every Garda member can now check a vehicle's insurance status while on the roadside by checking its registration on the Garda Mobility App which provides real time, up to date insurance information for every private vehicle in the country. All frontline Garda members can now issue Fixed Charge Notices directly through their personal mobility device on the side of the road, rather than completing paper tickets. The Gardaí have focused recently on distracted driving which it is estimated plays a role in 20/30% of all road collisions.

An Garda Síochána have recently deployed a new, unmarked HGV as part of its work to help reduce fatal and serious injury road traffic collisions, which will be utilised by Roads Policing Units nationwide as part of ‘Operation IOMPAR’. The introduction of ‘Operation IOMPAR’ is already yielding positive results with over 100 detections made using the HGV, the majority of which were found to be using their phone while driving.

Funding provided by the Government under Budget 2024 allows for the recruitment of new Gardaí, which will increase the number of frontline Gardaí available to the Garda Commissioner to allocate as he deems appropriate. It is expected that it will soon be possible to allocate more members to the Roads Policing units. An Garda Síochána have announced plans to add 75 Gardaí to Roads Policing this year, with a further 75 in 2025.

Budget 2024 also provided €3.6m in additional funding to be allocated for additional use of GoSafe speed cameras, with 9,000 hours of monitoring each month now in place for the whole of 2024. The Garda Commissioner has stated his aim is to have an additional 12 static road safety cameras in place by the end of this year, with a further commitment to have an additional 100 in operation by the end of 2025.

The Deputy can appreciate that while the distribution of Garda resources is an operational matter for the Commissioner, I am assured the distribution is kept under continual review.

Coupled with the continued roll-out of the new Operating Model, I am confident that the Commissioner will have the resources and plans in place to continue to deliver on An Garda Síochána's mission of Keeping People Safe.