Continued decline in Gardaí assigned to Road Traffic Corps worrying

Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Mid-West John Curran has criticised the Government for failing to accelerate the deployment of Garda personnel to the traffic corps in 2017.

Yet through information received through a Parliamentary Question to the Dublin TD John Curran the number of Gardaí deployed to the Traffic Corps continues to decline in 2017.

Commenting on the issue Deputy Curran said, “Over the past 3 years the Garda Traffic Corps has declined by 132 officers. In March 2014 there were 795 Gardaí assigned to the Traffic Corps and in May 2017 a total of 663 Gardaí are currently assigned.

However, a total of 85 people have lost their lives on the roads in the Republic of Ireland to date in 2017 and 2016 saw a 15% increase in road fatalities in the Republic of Ireland.

Road safety has fallen down the list of priorities under the current Government. The number of Gardaí attached to the Traffic Corps has fallen dramatically, and commitments from the Garda Commissioner in her Policing Plan 2017 to improve road safety by increasing the number of personnel dedicated to traffic duties by 10% in 2017, expanding the use of technology, increasing checkpoints has yet to be enacted.

“The Gardaí Traffic Corps needs additional resources now more than ever, but figures provided to me by the Minister are evidence that the number of Gardaí deployed to carry out road safety duties is in decline over the last 3 years and this is scandalous in light of the recent increase in Road Fatalities and collisions.

It seems Minister Ross is more interested in launching Road Safety campaigns than taking any action to assist Gardaí in their day to day duties of policing speeding and road traffic enforcement,” concluded Deputy Curran.