Speed cameras to be extended around the State

Garda speed cameras are to be extended across the State by the end of the summer, under an agreement between the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, and the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.

The two Ministers, who have already agreed a new pilot traffic corps for Dublin City, will now seek a private sector partner to install and run between 50 and 60 new fixed speed cameras, largely at "blackspot" locations across the State.

The move was announced by Mr Brennan at the launch of a new National Safety Council advertisement campaign in relation to the penalty points yesterday.

The new campaign, entitled "Get the Point not the Points", comes as the number of road deaths is starting to climb again, following a sharp reduction in the months after the introduction of the penalty points system last October.

The chief executive of the Irish Insurance Federation, Mr Mike Kemp, said drivers' fears of incurring points would "wear off" unless they were not "seen to be backed up by countrywide, high-intensity enforcement action".

Mr Brennan said he was determined the penalty points system would work and be seen to work. "There have been 27,000 penalty points notices issued," he said, adding that road deaths were down by about 23 per cent, "a saving of 68 lives".

Currently only three of the State's complement of about 20 roadside fixed cameras are working at any one time, and film is rotated between cameras.

Yesterday, however, Mr Brennan warned that "people who are detected speeding will get penalty points and will face difficulties with their driving licence and insurance".

While some details of the extended scheme were yet to be teased out, Mr Brennan said "whatever glitches there are, they will be worked out. It will be a constant battle. We cannot just say it is going to work because we brought it in: we will work at it day in and day out."

Issues remaining to be resolved included the payment for the private sector partner, the location of the cameras and the prosecution of offenders. Mr Brennan said it was the intention that the scheme would be a deterrent rather than a revenue-gathering service. Therefore cameras would be at blackspots rather than heavily trafficked dual carriageways where detection was easy. This would raise issues of how to incentivise the private sector operator, but he was confident these could be worked out.

Prosecutions would continue to be taken by gardaí and this also raised issues in relation to the gathering of evidence, but again Mr Brennan said these could be worked out.

The chairman of the National Safety Council, Mr Eddie Shaw, said drivers should weigh up the risk of being caught; should consider the consequences for their licence and insurance; and should consider the consequences for themselves and others.