I am grateful to Deputy Higgins for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strong commitment to respond to the unacceptable level of death and injury on our roads.
Up to the end of March this year, almost 90 people lost their lives on Irish roads. This compares to over 100 deaths in the same period last year. Unfortunately, as Deputy Higgins pointed out, despite relatively positive statistics for the first three months of the year, there was a down-turn during the Easter period when there was an increase in fatal accidents over the same period last year.
There is no doubt that society should be unwilling to pay such a high price for the use of its roads. We must strive to reduce the risk factor for road users and I welcome the opportunity to outline the Government's intentions in this vital area. In response to the public and political concern which the deterioration in road safety has evoked, the Taoiseach, toward the end of last year, convened a high level meeting of those mandated with responsibilities in this area. The Taoiseach's message was that the situation was unacceptable. He identified road safety as an urgent public health issue and one which the Government is determined to address, if necessary with improved legal instruments and increased resources. At that meeting, the High Level Group on Road Safety was mandated by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, to prepare a national strategy on road safety under the direction of the Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, Deputy Molloy.
This vitally important initiative represents the first time that a structured and systematic approach has been taken to road safety policy in Ireland and it mirrors the similar strategic approach followed by countries with the best road safety records, such as Sweden and the Netherlands. The preparation and development of this important strategy, under the capable direction of the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Molloy, will set the scene for road safety policy for the new millennium and address the challenge presented to us by exceptional economic growth and the resulting increase in traffic volume.
As far as the Garda authorities are concerned, the enforcement of the road traffic legislation is given a high priority with a view to reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries on roads. The Garda have taken the following measures to develop a more focused enforcement strategy in dealing with road traffic offences.
In July 1997, the Garda National Traffic Policy Bureau was established, based at Garda headquarters under the direction of a chief superintendent. Its mission is to co-ordinate and review Garda enforcement on a national basis. On 14 July 1997, the Garda launched Operation Lifesaver in the Louth-Meath division which is designed to deal with four key offences, namely, speeding, non-wearing of seat belts, drink driving and dangerous driving. The campaign was extended nationwide last autumn and it is continuing in 1998. Operation Lifesaver involves high levels of patrolling, checkpoints and speed checks. The initial results of this campaign, in the period 1 August 1997 to 31 December 1997, reveal that there were 34,202 speeding prosecutions and 42,562 cases were dealt with by on-the-spot fines, 44,357 seat belt offences, 3,312 dangerous driving offences and 2,803 drink driving offences.
The Minister has been assured by the Garda authorities that Operation Lifesaver will not only continue for the rest of this year but that its effectiveness is being constantly reviewed and improvements to enhance enforcement will be made as necessary. I wish to further assure the Deputy that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will continue to ensure that the Garda Síochána have the necessary resources in terms of manpower and equipment to help them monitor and detect breaches of the road traffic laws.
With regard to manpower, it has been suggested that there should be a separate traffic corps. However, there is within each Garda Síochána division a special traffic corps with special responsibility for traffic law enforcement. In addition, uniformed gardaí throughout the country are involved in road traffic enforcement activity as required. The Minister is satisfied that the current arrangements whereby traffic corps members deal with other policing issues in addition to traffic related matters is more beneficial generally to the wider community. This view is also shared by the Commissioner.
On the issue of equipment, the Garda have the most up to date offence detection equipment. This includes radar guns, tripod mounted lasers and in-car cameras. In addition, they have the GATSO unit — a system built into an unmarked vehicle which can monitor large numbers of vehicles at any one time and provide rapid computerised readouts of those exceeding the speed limit. It can be deployed at different Garda divisions as required. As I outlined earlier, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will ensure that the Garda have the latest offence detection technology. In this regard, he approved an additional GATSO unit in late 1997. Consideration is currently being given to the provision of additional GATSO units and automated speed detection cameras.
The Government is committed to reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries on the roads. The interagency High Level Group on Road Safety is considering various options as part of the National Strategy on Road Safety which will help to make our roads safer for those who use them. At the same time, the Minister would like to emphasise that enforcement alone cannot succeed unless the motoring public make a serious effort to obey the law. We know from research into accidents and deaths on our roads that drink driving, for example, is a major contributor. The first requirement in any attempt to reduce road accidents and death on our roads is a public recognition of the unacceptability of driving having taken drink. There is too much public tolerance of it. The Garda Síochána are putting a huge effort into enforcing the law but they can only be partially successful if public attitudes do not change.
The time has come for us to be more active in the area of road safety. I have outlined the Government's commitment, and the measures the Garda are taking to enforce the law. Mindful of the acute human tragedy involved in road accidents, we are determined that progress will be made in this critical area. I again thank Deputy Higgins for raising this issue.
