Ireland signs €65 million (US$97 million) speed camera contract

The Irish Republic’s long-awaited network of speed cameras will be introduced next summer after a €65 million (US$97 million) five-year contract was signed by the Government and a private sector consortium. Under the agreement, signed with the GoSafe consortium, 45 mobile cameras will provide more than 6,000 hours of speed checks per month across the country. The project will be run by the Irish police (Garda) Office for Safety Camera Management and the speed checks will be performed at about 700 locations identified by them as emergency black spots.

The consortium, led by the Irish Spectra company, also includes the French company EGIS Projects and Australia-based Redflex Holdings, who will provide the camera vans and their Image and Infringement Processing System, (IIPS). The new contract will have no impact on speed enforcement currently carried out by the Garda. The force uses eight mobile cameras in vans, 400 hand-held speeding devices and more than 100 ALPR cameras in Garda cars that can be used for speed checks. GoSafe will provide all the personnel and equipment to carry out the speed checks with 45 mobile cameras, but the Garda will have overall responsibility for the service and will take measures against offending drivers.

The project is to be revenue-neutral and it is estimated that it will pay for itself if 500 motorists have to pay an €80 (US$120) fine for speeding every day. Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, says the GoSafe consortium was being paid a ‘flat fee’. There was no provision for commission or bonuses, irrespective of how many motorists were caught speeding. “The cameras are being introduced not to raise revenue, but to stop speeding on our roads,” says Ahern. “The program will focus on locations where enforcement will result in the greatest benefit in increasing road safety, and not on any other criteria,” he adds.

Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, says that while speed enforcement had been increased in recent years, speed was still the biggest factor in road deaths. The new cameras would result in increased enforcement, particularly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The hours between midnight and 3am would also see a concentration of resources. Murphy says just 3% of speed checks provided by the new cameras would be on motorways and dual carriageways. Some 50% would be on national roads with the remainder on non-national roads. “Our aim is for drivers to change to a compliance culture,” Murphy says. The locations of many of the cameras will be posted on the Garda website.

23 November 2009