Speeding is one of the leading causes of road collisions in Ireland. Last year, 2025, was the worst year for road fatalities in more than ten years and road collision statistics show that there is a growing trend that Irish roads are becoming less safe. Last year, an Garda Síochána recorded 190 fatalities on our roads and over 1,000 people being injured as a result of collisions. Each statistic represents a life lost, a wider family devastated and demonstrates the constant work needed to make our roads safe for all who use them. The deployment of speed cameras and speed monitoring systems is one tool that can tackle speeding and that can make our roads safer. This strategy has been long overdue but, regrettably, it appears to be more of a scoping exercise rather than an implementable plan. When we look into the actual detail of the strategy, it appears that the Minister and his Department have no willingness to reform the operation of speed cameras and that they are committed to sticking with the same failed multi-agency approach. This comes at a time when the Government is spending millions of euro on a contract with the GoSafe company for the provision of mobile speed camera vans. In 2024, the State paid almost €18 million to GoSafe for the provision of approximately 58 speed camera vans. This works out at the State paying roughly €31,000 for the operation of each speed camera van per year. I would seriously question whether that represents value for money. This strategy also rules out the possibility of An Garda Síochána taking full ownership of the deployment and operation of speed cameras. There was no detailed cost evaluation within the strategy to merit this decision, and it appears that the favoured operation models are just an exercise in the Minister of State making minor changes to a system that is fundamentally not working. Sadly, this lack of ambition on the part of the Government is yet another example of how it is not taking road safety seriously enough. Before Christmas, the Minister of State backtracked on the Department of Transport's plans to reform the Road Safety Authority, RSA. This followed the publication of the Indecon report in 2024 that recommended splitting the RSA into two separate bodies, one with responsible for road safety and one to oversee processes such as driver testing and the national car test, NCT, service. Months on from this decision, we are no closer to seeing any reform of the RSA. When we see road collision outcomes going in the wrong direction, it is clear that something has to change but the Government does not seem to get it and all the while, more and more people are involved in road traffic collisions. There is clearly a need for action in the way this Government approaches road safety policy and in the way it implements road safety measures, including the deployment of speed cameras. This national speed camera strategy is a missed opportunity to deliver real reform in the area of road safety. I call on the Minister of State to deliver meaningful action in this area that ensures that there is effective speed detection that reduces the risks on our roads and that this is done in a cost-effective way for taxpayers.

Sentiment score: -0.04