Speed camera contract remains unfilled a year on

A second Garda contract for speed detection cameras remains unfilled almost one year after it was announced, it has emerged. The contract for eight "Gatso-style" vans to be used in covert detection is separate to the €25 million-plus, privatised speed camera contract, which also remains unfilled.

While the "progressive roll out" of speed cameras" across the State was first promised in The Road to Safety launched by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and then minister for environment Noel Dempsey in 1998, a decade later almost no progress on the cameras appears to have been made.

Now the issue of when the contracts for the speed cameras will be awarded is to be raised in the Dáil by Opposition spokesmen on Transport and Justice Fergus O'Dowd and Charlie Flannagan.

Neither the Department of Transport, nor Justice, which have been part of a number of consultative bodies set up over a decade to advise on the deployment of speed cameras, were able to comment on the likelihood of a date for the award of the contracts yesterday. Both departments referred questions to the Garda. A spokesman for the Garda press office said information was being sought, but this had not been made available at the time of writing.

Last month, Garda Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock said there were just three fixed cameras in the greater Dublin area operational at any one time, but he indicated the Garda was anxious to have the necessary equipment to advance the programme and contribute to road safety.

However, as reported in The Irish Times, issues of cost have arisen with the plan to privatise speed cameras, with a start-up cost up to twice the €25 million initially envisaged for the project.

This would engulf most of the estimated €70 million a year in revenue the system was estimated to net for the exchequer.

The second contract which was announced last April was for eight new "Gatso-style" vans to replace an existing fleet of eight vehicles.

It was to comprise a mixture of fixed and mobile cameras and may include some point-to-point systems which can determine a vehicle's average speed between two cameras.

While there was some debate about whether the system should be laser-based or use radar technology, it is understood that at least three companies responded to the tender by last summer, but are still awaiting further contact from the garda authorities.

The Garda has, however, taken delivery of a number of laser guns which are the commonly used "hairdryer" machines used by mobile patrols. Laser is also used by gardaí in cameras which are mounted in the back of police four-wheel-drives.

Commenting on the situation, Mr O'Dowd said the deployment of speed cameras had been repeatedly announced over recent years, yet there appeared to be a lack of urgency in awarding the contract.

"We will certainly be asking questions in the Dáil at the next available opportunity about what is the problem here," he said.