Government under fire over traffic corp delay

THE Government has come under attack for putting off plans to set up a dedicated traffic corps to police road safety law.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has blamed legal obstacles for delays in drawing up a format for the new force after it emerged substantial new legislation would have to be enacted to allow for the establishment of a law enforcement authority separate from the gardaí.

The minister told an Oireachtas committee he also wanted to avoid problems that had arisen in other countries where traffic police were restricted to enforcing motoring law and had to call in regular police to tackle other crimes they detected while on patrol.

But the National Safety Council (NSC) said yesterday it was concerned about the impact of continued delays on road safety and said the minister should beef up the existing garda traffic units if a permanent force could not be created.

“There is a direct relationship between a high garda presence and visibility on our roads, and driver behaviour,” said NSC chief executive Pat Costello, who said that road deaths this year were up almost 30% on the same time last year.

“We would be keen that drivers, as well as taking personal responsibility for their behaviour, would also be conscious that their behaviour is being monitored. It is vital that existing traffic units would be given extra resources.” The Irish Insurance Federation described the minister’s remarks as “extremely disappointing” and said plans to increase the number of offences punishable by penalty points would be a “waste of time” if there was not enough manpower to police them.

“I can understand the legislative difficulties the minister may be encountering. However, there are four cornerstones to any road safety strategy: education, engineering, legislation and enforcement, and enforcement is missing from the Irish road safety strategy,” said IIF corporate affairs manager Niall Doyle.

“It will continue to be missing unless there is a fundamental review of the priority both the minister for justice and the garda commissioner give to road safety. We’ve seen the number of road deaths increase since last October. It’s not a blip anymore, it’s a trend and it’s going to continue if it isn’t taken seriously.”

A dedicated traffic corps was a pre-election promise made by Fianna Fáil in 2002 and it was included in the Coalition’s programme for government which says: “a dedicated traffic corps with its own staff and ring-fenced budget will be established following a six-month consultation process.”

The proposal was for a stand-alone force separate from the garda traffic units, from which members can be withdrawn at any time to take up other duties. The idea had cross-party political backing and strong support from groups such as the Irish Road Haulage Association, the National Roads Authority and employers’ body IBEC.

Mr McDowell said he was still in consultation with the garda commissioner on the issue and, along with Transport Minister Séamus Brennan, is examining ways of boosting traffic law enforcement within existing garda resources, but opposition politicians said this was a far cry from what was originally promised.

Labour Party spokeswoman on transport Roisín Shortall hit out at her Government counterpart, saying his policies lay in tatters. “If Mr Brennan wants to save face, save his policies and ultimately save lives, then he must address the shambles that his initiatives have become,” she said.

The criticisms come at an awkward time for Mr Brennan, who next Tuesday hosts European dignitaries at the signing of the European Commission’s Road Safety Charter in Dublin.

Mr Brennan is also under fire for delays in publishing the follow-up to the last national Road Safety Strategy, which ran out in December 2002. His spokesman said the document was with the Cabinet and was expected to be published soon.