Transport Minister says he doesn’t know how 30-minute mandatory traffic policing per shift for gardaí will work
The cameras will be positioned at junctions where motorists routinely run red lights, starting in Dublin and then rolling out to the rest of the country.
The idea has been talked about for a number of years, but Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said they would soon be introduced as part of a number of new automated traffic enforcement measures.
Cameras would also monitor bus lanes to capture and penalise drivers of unauthorised vehicles that use them, he said.
“We are about to get them,” Mr Ryan said.
“It is first and foremost for the everyday management of bus lanes, of parking, of traffic light adherence.
“When we do surveys, we find a large number of people are breaking lights and that’s a huge safety concern.
“So yes, among the whole series of new camera technologies we’re going to introduce will be the introduction of cameras, starting in Dublin, where you have an automated system that captures any breaking of lights or entry into bus lanes inappropriately.”
Fines would issue automatically to reduce the time and cost associated with prosecuting offences, he added.
Mr Ryan said he was due to get a briefing later today from transport and road safety officials on preparations for the cameras and the timing of their roll-out.
“It will be later this year into next year,” he said.
Mr Ryan, junior transport minister Jack Chambers and Taoiseach Simon Harris are meeting with officials amid growing alarm over the 31pc increase in road deaths so far this year.
“We have to turn those figures around and I’m convinced we can and will,” he said.
Along with new cameras, he said there would have to be a focus on increasing enforcement through having more Gardai on the street and on the beat.
He said preparations to reduce the default speed limits on national and non-national roads were being fast-tracked but the need to change every road sign on every road took time.
Under the changes, roads where a 100kmph limit applies will reduce to 80kmph, and 80kmph roads will change to 60kmph.
In urban areas, the 50kmph default limit will reduce to 30kmph except where local authorities deem it unnecessary.
“Councils will need time to make that assessment,” Mr Ryan said.
Mr Ryan has also said he doesn’t know how the instruction for all uniformed gardai to do 30 minutes of traffic policing during every shift will work.
Last week Garda Commissioner Drew Harris issued the instruction, amid the ongoing crisis in road deaths on Irish roads.
So far this year, 63 people have died on our roads, representing a 31pc increase on the same period last year.
Minister Ryan told RTÉ that while he believes more gardaí are needed in road traffic policing, he will be asking how the mandatory 30 minutes of road policing will work.
“I’ll be asking the Garda Commissioner that so he can explain how he wants to deploy his resources,” the minister told Radio One’s Morning Ireland.
On Saturday, the Irish Independent revealed that under the proposed new Garda roster there will be no dedicated Garda Roads Policing Unit cover between 2am and 7am most nights.
The measure which is part of a deal struck after garda dissatisfaction with planned new rosters threatened to spill over into industrial action, has been approved by the commissioner and will now be voted on by some garda representative bodies.
Mr Ryan told RTÉ an increased number of gardaí on Irish roads is only one measure he believes is needed in terms of enforcement.
“I think we do need to increase numbers in An Garda Síochána working on traffic policing. We do need more enforcement and more resources directed to that,” he said
“It isn’t just about the number of Gardaí as well as the speed cameras or national roads, I mentioned there particularly the average speed cameras.”
“We will also be introducing speed cameras for the likes of the management of bus lanes and other parking and other infringements which are part of this road safety issue,” Minister Ryan said.
The transport minister also said the Road Safety Authority “needs to improve”, amid the increased number of people who have died on Irish roads.
Taoiseach Simon Harris is to meet with road safety chiefs and ministers today to discuss the crisis, and a transport conference will take place in Dublin where road safety and sustainable transport will be discussed.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Minister Eamon Ryan said the RSA needs to improve and that a full review of the authority is under way which will suggest recommendations for change when completed.
“I think [the RSA] needs to improve and I think we need to help it improve and make sure it has the resources and it has the necessary staff and has the remit.
Simon Harris says road safety will be ‘priority issue’ for him in days ahead
“You can never be satisfied at a time when road deaths are increasing,” he said.
Mr Ryan said there were three priorities that had to be tackled this year, including the reduction of speed limits, increased enforcement with speed cameras and more specific spending on areas of the roads where there are safety issues.
Recent reports have said that local authorities have been unable to get the necessary data on the location of road crashes because the RSA is citing GDPR data rules, making it difficult to identify which roads need more attention to improve safety.
Minister Ryan this was something that needed to change.
“The collision data wasn’t being shared in a way that we want with our local authority representatives and that has to happen,” the minister said.
“There are complex legal arguments as to what you can or can’t do under European law.
“But we will overcome that. We have set up a specific group to make sure that will not be the case into the future, that we do have to share all the data to the maximum of our ability,” he added.
