Survey shows benefits of speed cameras

The Department of Justice has admitted that there are still only three fixed speed cameras on Irish roads, despite new evidence from Britain of a 40 per cent reduction in road deaths and serious injuries at camera sites.

A three-year study, commissioned by the British Department of Transport, found that 100 lives were saved each year at camera sites and the number of motorists speeding in the areas around newly installed cameras had fallen by 71 per cent.

The number of Garda fixed speed cameras in the State has remained static for more than a year, even though the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, called for an extra 60 cameras at accident blackspots in June of last year.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said yesterday that the Garda had no plans to purchase extra cameras.

"There are three cameras, which were set up under a pilot programme, but they are rotated around 20 locations in Louth Meath and Dublin."

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, established a working group last year to examine the scope for outsourcing the installation and operation of speed cameras.

The group is due to report to the Ministers for Justice and Transport this autumn.

Both Ministers have voiced their support for privatising the system.

The criteria by which camera sites will be chosen was "crucial", Mr McDowell said, and revenue generation would not be the criteria for choosing sites.

A spokesman for PA consulting, the company which conducted the British survey, said the UK findings highlighted the potential for speed cameras to save Irish lives.