High costs hit speed cameras

Ministerial reply suggests plans for 600 privatised speed cameras announced in 2006 has been shelved over cost concerns.

The Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has given the clearest indication yet that the Government's tender for the installation of private sector speed cameras at up to 600 locations across the State, has been abandoned.

In a written parliamentary reply to Kerry North TD Jimmy Deenihan, Mr Lenihan praised the existing enforcement efforts of the Garda, and noted that the number of traffic corps officers would rise to 1,200 this year.

He also pointed out that the speed detection vehicle fleet was due to be replaced this year. But he said the speed camera tender had indicated "substantially higher" costs than "had been previously estimated for the Government".

Mr Lenihan concluded that he would bring proposals before Government shortly "taking into account issues of value for money" and "the enhanced activity" by gardaí.

The Minister's reply is the most comprehensive public comment to emanate from Government on the camera tender, which was published on the Government's e-tendering website in 2006.

The Irish Timesunderstands that in the past week the six companies which responded to the tender each received a letter from the Department of Justice outlining a review of priorities.

Well-placed sources said the companies involved were taking it that the contract for privatised speed cameras had been abandoned.

The Minister's comments confirm reports in this newspaper that delays with the contract were related to cost. The Garda estimated the costs in March 2007 at €25 million annually.

However, based on the specification of the Working Group on Speed Cameras, published in 2005, the industry said the cost would be closer to €50 million - still within the €70 million a year in revenue the working group estimated the speed cameras would raise.

News of the Minister's stance will come as a major disappointment to the Road Safety Authority (RSA), successor to the National Safety Council - the final two chief executives of which resigned, citing a lack of Government support for successive road safety strategies.

The authority chairman Gay Byrne, who last week accused the Government of passing the buck between departments, while members of the RSA grew more anxious, yesterday referred questions to the authority.

The chief executive of the RSA Noel Brett said yesterday he had not seen the text of the Minister's letter, and wanted to withhold comment until he did so.

However, he said he had written to the Government expressing anxiety over the issue as recently as last week.

Mr Brett has previously commented that the speed cameras were to provide up to 6,000 hours of detection per month. This was to be in addition to the enhanced Garda activity, increased numbers of gardaí and ongoing replacement of equipment.

The State-wide deployment of speed cameras was first promised a decade ago, at the launch of a five-year road safety strategy The Road to Safety, by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and then minister for the environment Noel Dempsey. Mr Dempsey, as current Minister for Transport, is understood to be supportive of the speed camera plan.

The ambition that the cameras would be privatised was subsequently incorporated in a road safety strategy in 2006.

Commenting on the situation, Mr Deenihan said he believed the Government had decided the strategy would be unpopular in the run up to the local elections next year.