Road safety is a shared responsibility which this Government takes very seriously. We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the recent worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer
Budget 2024 provided an unprecedented budget of €2.35 billion for the Garda Vote, a total increase of 25% since 2020. The unprecedented level of investment into An Garda Síochána has enabled the roll out of the highest number of mobility devices ever allowing all Gardaí to conduct certain policing tasks on the move.
A Traffic App available to all front-line members was launched in 2022 and enables vehicle and driver checks. Since November 2023, An Garda Síochána has been in a data sharing agreement with the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland (MIBI). This agreement has granted Gardaí access to near real-time insurance details of 3 million vehicles and 5 million drivers through the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID). Members of An Garda Síochána pro-actively enforce legislation pertaining to the use of the road network by uninsured drivers. Updates to the Traffic App on mobility devices have simplified this task for members.
I am advised by the Garda Authorities that the National Fleet Database information is expected to be added to An Garda Síochána insurance app in the near future. I understand that this data will then be tested by An Garda Síochána before being rolled out to Roads Policing and then the wider An Garda Síochána membership.
