Vol. 468 No. 4
614 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice whether a change in traffic speeding fines to an on-the-spot fine system would greatly assist in releasing Gardaí from Court attendance and onto the streets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15602/96]
The Minister for the Environment is at present drafting Regulations under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994 to provide for on-the-spot fines for certain categories of speeding offences, following consultations between senior representatives of the Department of the Environment, my Department and the Garda authorities.
It is not possible to say how many speeding offences will be dealt with by way of issuing fine-on-the-spot notices when the regulations are made. Neither is it possible to say how many of such fines would be paid before the need to proceed by summons arose.
The Garda Síochána annual report for 1994 shows that there were 37,478 prosecutions for speeding offences in that year.
