The introduction of speed cameras on Ireland's roads has been delayed until 2006, according to reports this morning.
The Government had planned to introduce the measure this year but will now have to wait for legislation which will not be published until later next year.
This morning's reports indicate that the delay is due to the time it will take for the Attorney General and the Department for Transport to examine and clear legislation required for the introduction of speed camers.
Compounding the problem, the 2003 annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, found that speed cameras used by the Garda for more than a year were defective, resulting in the failure to prosecute almost half of all the drivers caught speeding on camera.
The Department of Justice admitted last summer that there were only three fixed speed cameras on Irish roads, despite evidence from Britain of a 40 per cent reduction in road deaths and serious injuries at camera sites.
The number of Garda fixed speed cameras in the State has remained static for more than a year, even though the former Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, called for an extra 60 cameras at accident blackspots in June of 2003.
The Irish Times reported in September that key aspects of the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2004-2006 were originally promised in 1998.
Much of the 2004-2006 strategy was initially promised at the launch of the previous road safety strategy, The Road to Safety, in 1998 which planned for the deployment of fixed speed cameras State-wide by 2000.