Hundreds of motorists are to be refunded speeding fines and have penalty points removed from their licences after a mix-up between Louth County Council and gardaí.
A speed limit on a stretch of road near Drogheda was increased from 80kph to 100kph last April, but gardaí continued to enforce the old limit. Almost 400 motorists were caught by fixed cameras and a Garda Gatso van.
The council admitted today it had failed to change speed limit signs on the R132 north of the town but said local gardaí had been notified of the new speed limit in advance of the change.
"The fact that the sign is right or wrong is immaterial in this jurisdiction", said the council's senior executive officer, Patrick Donnelly. "We notified gardaí and [put out] a public notice," he added.
He said the council was "holding our hands up" for not replacing the signs. "It was in our work schedule, but it slipped and the signs should have changed." The signs are now to be changed as soon as possible, Mr Donnelly added.
But he said: "We are 100 per cent sure we did everything else by the book." He said local gardaí were notified on April 20th of the change in the bylaw governing the speed limit on the stretch of road due to come into effect on April 28th.
Since then, some 380 motorists were fined €80 and got two penalty points. Gardaí are to examine the cases to see how many motorists caught speeding were within the 100kph limit.
"We acknowledge there was an issue and we are going back through our records," a Garda spokesman said. He said motorists travelling below 100kph would have their fines refunded and points removed from their licences. He could not say how long the process would take.
