The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, yesterday denied plans for the introduction of a dedicated traffic corps, within An Garda Síochána, had been abandoned because of budgetary constraints.
He said both he and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, were still "absolutely" committed to the plan. He added a traffic corps in Dublin should be operational on a pilot basis in the first half of next year, but cautioned that that timeframe was a target rather than an absolute deadline.
Mr Brennan was reacting to media reports yesterday which suggested plans for the traffic corps had been abandoned. Some reports suggested Mr McCreevy had informed Ministers no additional funds would be made available for the recruitment of extra personnel in December's budget, thus ruling out the establishment of a traffic corps.
Mr Brennan said consultation on the new corps had been expected to take just six months but was now in its 12th month.
He told RTÉ Radio 1's 5-7 Live that the establishment of a new traffic corps was "not just a matter of signing a cheque".
A number if issues needed to be resolved. In particular it was not clear what effect a traffic corps would have on the obligations of the rest of the force to enforce traffic law. It was also still unclear what role civilians, who would not have the power of arrest, will play in the new traffic corps.
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