I have to say I found the previous speaker's contribution strange, to put it mildly. For the Sinn Féin speaker to be trying to circumvent speeding on our roads when we see the dangers that are on our roads is incredibly bizarre, to put it mildly. In any event, I welcome the publication of the National Safety Camera Strategy and congratulate the Minister of State on his continued efforts to use modern technology to address what is a major issue in Ireland today. In my constituency Irish Rail has already commenced a strategy at the Merrion Gates DART crossing for camera-based enforcement for road traffic offences, specifically, red-light offences for crossing that rail crossing. This was launched in January of this year and it marks the first time in over a decade that automatic cameras have been deployed to detect red-light violations. These cameras ensure that motorists who breach traffic signals face meaningful penalties, including fines and penalty points. I have no difficulty with a motorist who seeks to fast track across the crossings facing a penalty for this. I find it very strange that any parliamentarian would seek to defend, like the previous speaker did, a motorist who drove at over 100 km/h and is facing penalty points because they did not see the sign, even if they are their constituents. In any event, this scheme is also being rolled out on Serpentine Road and Sandymount Avenue and on the other side of the River Liffey Irish Rail is also doing it in Sutton and Coolmine. I hope these cameras are installed as a matter of urgency because the evidence shows these measures work. In 2015 there was a pilot at the Luas crossing in the city centre and that reduced red-light breaches by half during a six-month trial. I also want to emphasise the necessity for interoperability. Irish Rail is trying to protect against cars going through the rail crossings but where the Merrion Gates cameras are currently placed means they are perfectly primed to also prevent heavy goods vehicles using the Strand Road when they are not supposed to. It is illegal for heavy goods vehicles to use the Strand Road yet a report from the council in 2021 found that 130 heavy goods vehicles daily were travelling northbound on the Strand Road. It would not take much for those cameras to also be used to detect and criminalise that offence. I ask the Minister of State to look into improving the interoperability of cameras that are already in place so they can detect other road offences.

Sentiment score: -0.09