Peadar Tóibín
Question:1111. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí working in road policing at present, and in each of the past five years. [1517/24]
View answerWednesday, 17 January 2024
Questions (1111)
Written answers
Road safety is a shared responsibility, and it is one which this Government takes very seriously. We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities in 2023, and into the early days of the New Year, after many years of progress in making our roads safer.
Road traffic legislation is enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of members of An Garda Síochána and, to assist with this, the Government are committed to providing the funding needed to continue to ramp up Garda recruitment.
I am informed by Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána is committed to working closely with all road safety agencies to focus on high risk behaviour with the key objective of reducing the number of serious injury collisions and fatalities on our roads.
Budget 2024 provides for 800-1000 new Garda recruits. Growing the strength of An Garda Síochána to 15,000 and beyond will allow the further expansion of specialist units, including the roads policing unit.
Also as part of Budget 2024, €3.6m additional funding has been allocated for GoSafe speed cameras, continuing the increased level of 9,000 hours a month announced last year through the whole of 2024.
As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the allocation and efficient use of Garda resources. This includes responsibility for personnel matters and the distribution of personnel across the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.
I am assured that the Commissioner keeps the allocation of these resources under continued review, in line with crime and population trends, to ensure their optimum use.
It is important to note that while a number of Gardaí are assigned to Roads Policing Units, all frontline Gardaí contribute to policing our roads and keeping them safe. On average 25% of roads policing enforcement is carried by regular members, with the exception of drug/drink driving checks, 75% of which are carried out by regular members.
For the Deputy's information, and in the interest of transparency, detailed statistics on Garda workforce numbers, including the number of Gardaí assigned to the Roads Policing Unit, are published on gov.ie and are updated regularly by my Department from information provided by An Garda Síochána. The statistics can be accessed using the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/