Martin Kenny
Question:907. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide a breakdown of road traffic offences detected, by county and offence committed, per year from 2022 and 2023, in tabular form. [14838/24]
View answerTuesday, 9 April 2024
Questions (907)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including the recording of traffic offences. As Minister for Justice, I have no direct role in these matters.
Road traffic legislation is enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of members of An Garda Síochána, as well as through a programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations, carried out in partnership with other State agencies, including the Department of Transport and other Government Departments, the Road Safety Authority, the National Roads Authority, and the community, in order to make our roads safer for all.
It may be of interest to the Deputy to note that, as of the end of February 2024, there were 627 members assigned to the Garda roads policing unit, compared to 623 in 2017. As Garda recruitment continues and accelerates, additional Garda members will become available to be deployed to priority areas. It should also be noted that all front-line Gardaí contribute to policing our roads and keeping them safe. On average 25% of roads policing enforcement is carried out by regular members, with the exception of drug/drink driving checks, 75% of which are carried out by regular members.
As part of Budget 2024, €3.6m additional funding has been allocated for GoSafe speed cameras, continuing the increased level of 9,000 hours monitoring a month through the whole of 2024. The primary purpose of this additional deployment will be to reduce speed-related collisions, reduce injuries and above all save lives.
While An Garda Síochána are focusing their efforts on enforcement, it is also important to recognise that a multi-faceted approach is necessary to reduce fatalities and collisions that cause serious injuries, including campaigns to target driver behaviour, infrastructure improvements such as road design, maintenance and safety features.
Statistics in respect of road traffic offences by Garda Division are published by An Garda Síochána and the Deputy can be find these at the link below.
www.garda.ie/en/roads-policing/statistics/roads%20policing%20offences%20by%20region%20and%20division/