As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
I am informed the Garda authorities that Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) was first introduced by the Garda authorities in 2008 and is used on a daily basis to assist in the prevention and detection of crime on our roads network. I am further informed that the uninsured watch list on the ANPR system has been live since 12 July 2019, and records are available on the ANPR system since that date.
I am advised that since 12 July 2019, an average of 128 uninsured vehicles have been identified by An Garda Síochána per day through the use of ANPR which is approximately 5 per hour over a twenty-four hour period.
The Deputy will appreciate that the values vary greatly depending on the time of day and the day of the week.
The tables below, which have been provided to me by the Garda authorities, set out the average number of uninsured vehicles detected on the ANPR System on both a daily and hourly basis.
Daily breakdown
Day
|
Daily Average
|
Monday
|
133
|
Tuesday
|
136
|
Wednesday
|
140
|
Thursday
|
139
|
Friday
|
143
|
Saturday
|
107
|
Sunday
|
100
|
Hourly breakdown
This is the breakdown based on an average daily number of identified uninsured vehicles.
8am-11am
|
11am-2pm
|
2pm-5pm
|
5pm-8pm
|
8pm-8am
|
22
|
29
|
35
|
23
|
19
|
I am advised that the above figures are based on records from 12/07/2019 to 31/12/2021, inclusive. I am further advised that these figures are based upon operational data from the ANPR System as was available on 18/02/2022 and is liable to change.