Garda speed checks must start targeting the places where accidents are likely to happen, the Minister for Transport has told the Dáil. Marie O'Halloran reports.
Mr Brennan, who announced that careless driving would be added to the list of penalty point offences from June 1st, believed that as speed cameras were rolled out, speed checks aimed at likely accident locations would increase.
The Minister was responding to Mr Seán Crowe (SF, Dublin South-West), who said that the system was "losing credibility" because it "is not being implemented at accident black spots on dangerous bends and at other dangerous places".
Mr Crowe said many believed the system was not effective because "more and more people are getting points, but many Garda checkpoints are in areas where there is no danger".
There were areas such as Lucan, Co Dublin, where "Garda patrols hide behind bus shelters, such as at the Spawell, to catch motorists coming off the motorway, which is subject to a higher speed limit. It is madness and a waste of resources when you consider the speeding cars in housing estates."
People believed the system was "geared more towards bringing in revenue because of the manner in which points are being allocated for speeding cars".
The Sinn Féin deputy demanded to know what discussions the Minister had had with the Garda Commissioner on the issue.
Mr Brennan said the Minister for Justice had discussed the strategy of tackling speeding with the Garda Commissioner on many occasions.
"The questions of when and where the Garda does its speed checks is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner but he knows my views, which are not too dissimilar to those of the Deputy.
"To be really effective, the Garda must start targeting the places where accidents are likely to happen. Increasingly, one will see that the force will do this, particularly as we roll out the speed cameras. This will help substantially."
He believed that the penalty points system would increasingly change driver behaviours, "particularly when the computer system is fully introduced, because if a motorist is put off the road and attempts to drive within those six months, they could receive a prison sentence."
To date, according to the Minister, 144,000 drivers have had penalty points endorsed in their licence records.