Pa Daly
Question:142. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the measures he is taking to improve roads policing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12784/25]
View answerThursday, 20 March 2025
Questions (142)
Written answers
Road safety is a shared responsibility. The whole of Government response is led by the Department of Transport and is taken very seriously across Government.
The development and implementation of road traffic legislation and policy, including the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, and the promotion and advancement of road safety, falls within the remit of my colleague Mr Darragh O'Brien TD, the Minister for Transport. I continue to engage with colleagues across Government to ensure that every effort is made to increase safety on our roads.
An Garda Síochána plays a vital role in enforcing road traffic law and in making our roads safer for all road users, including vulnerable road users.
Road traffic laws are enforced by Gardaí assigned to Roads Policing and as part of the day-to-day duties of uniformed Gardaí nationwide. This includes a programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations carried out in partnership with other state agencies.
Following the Commissioner’s direction, uniform Garda members are now deployed on high visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes duration, in each tour of duty. During 2024, 68% of Driving Under the Influence incidents, 63% of all vehicles detained and removed from public roads and 75% of all checkpoints were carried out by frontline, non-roads policing personnel.
Over the recent St. Patrick's bank holiday weekend, An Garda Síochána carried out more than 1,025 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints. Over 4,969 Breath Tests and 190 Oral Fluid Tests were carried out which led to 214 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
I am assured by the Commissioner that he is committed to the aim to allocate 150 personnel into roads policing by the end of 2025. An Garda Síochána commenced this allocation with the transfer of 23 Garda members to Roads Policing units during the second half of 2024.
An Garda Síochána is committed to its role in the three pillars of roads safety - Education, Engineering and Enforcement. Every frontline Garda member now has a mobility device, which is essentially a mobile phone that allows them to access a number of specialised Garda apps at the roadside. These include the ability to issue a Fixed Charge Notice, to check a vehicle's insurance status, if a vehicle is taxed and whether a driver is disqualified. These tasks can now be done within moments, without the need to return to the station making much better use of their time. During 2024 An Garda Síochána increased capacity for Roads Policing and implemented many initiatives to reduce road-related deaths and improved safety. An Garda Síochána had increased capacity with:
• deployments of High Performance Unmarked Cars,
• unmarked motorbikes and unmarked Lorry Tractor Cab (Operation Iompair),
• installation of two average and three static safety cameras, with additional average and static safety cameras commencing in Q1 2025,
• additional monitoring hours for Mobile Safety Cameras (GoSafe).
Recently An Garda Síochána has commenced the deployment of Roads Policing Vehicles with a new livery, to once again clearly differentiate between Roads Policing Vehicles and other Frontline vehicles.
This, along with improved technology, additional speed cameras and enhanced data sharing is helping to ensure a multi-faceted approach to road safety enforcement in Ireland.
In the interest of transparency, information in relation to the allocation of Roads Policing by Garda Division is publicly available and can be found at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/