Brennan pledges to deliver on traffic corps
Mr Brennan's promise comes ahead of the first wave of appeals at Dublin District Court this week by motorists faced with penalty points for speeding offences.
More than 16,000 motorists are faced with penalty points for speeding.
A court service spokesperson was yesterday unable to confirm how many motorists are appearing at district court 52 where, on conviction, they run the risk of the penalty points being doubled.
However, setting up a dedicated traffic corps to deal with motoring offences has been delayed due to funding and personnel.
A department spokesman said the minister remained committed to its introduction.
"The minister is pushing for a high visibility traffic unit to be up-and-running, initially in Dublin, Cork and Limerick," a spokesman said.
"Although the funding has not been secured, Minister Brennan believes the formation of a traffic corps is essential to a national plan to help reduce road fatalities."
The minister's assurance followed the leaking of a road safety report, which revealed the chances of being detected for speeding or drink driving was low due to garda enforcement difficulties. The unpublished report was commissioned by the Government's High Level Group on Road Safety.
Fine Gael transport spokesman Denis Naughten warned the success of the penalty points system will be short-lived due to a shortage of resources.
"Irresponsible motorists will take advantage of the fact they are unlikely to be caught and will return to their old ways," Mr Naughten said.
With responsibility for the new policing plan falling between the Departments of Finance and Transport, the Fine Gael TD said: "The traffic corps has been long-fingered because the Government is having trouble deciding which department should oversee the establishment of such a force.
"The Government and the Transport Minister are willing to put up with further road fatalities in order to save money."
A garda spokesman said the proposed traffic corps was a political issue.
"The funding or make-up of the planned body is not a matter for the gardaí. It has been the Commissioner's policy not to comment on the matter."
The spokesman also declined to comment on a newspaper article which highlighted how Irish motorists were far less likely to get caught for speeding and drink driving than their European counterparts.
Meanwhile, official figures on the high-profile Operation Taisteal over the Easter weekend will not be available until later this week. Four people died on roads in the Republic between Friday and midnight on Monday a reduction of one on 2002. In the Dublin Metropolitan Area, 65 people were arrested on drink-driving charges over the weekend.
