Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
1419. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of calls that were received by the Garda Traffic Watch Service in 2020; the number of those calls that are allocated a number in the Garda PULSE system; the number of investigations under the road traffic acts that resulted from those calls; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19112/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, the administration of the traffic watch phone line is a matter for An Garda Síochána and I, as Minister, have no role in this matter.
Traffic Watch is a partnership approach to reducing the number of road collisions and fatalities. It brings road users, An Garda Síochána, the National Roads Authority and the Road Safety Authority together in a collaborative partnership to improve safety on our roads.
Members of the public can report traffic-related incidents using the Traffic Watch lo-call number 1890 205 805. These calls are answered and logged by civilian personnel at the Garda Information Services Centre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The incident is then forwarded to the relevant District Officer (Superintendent) for investigation.
I am informed by Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána does not record the number of traffic watch calls that it receives.
I am further informed that a total of 1,182 traffic watch incidents were created on the Garda PULSE system in the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020, and that all of these incidents were assigned to a Garda member for follow-up and investigation.
