Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
246. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport the reason the installation of traffic cameras at junctions in Dublin city to catch motorists who break red lights has been shelved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2224/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe increased deployment of safety cameras in the coming years is a key action to be delivered under the Phase 2 Action Plan of the all-of-Government Road Safety Strategy. The Phase 2 Action Plan was published in July 2025 and includes 12 primary actions supplemented by a further 77 support actions. These actions are being delivered collaboratively by road safety partners and align with commitments in the Programme for Government.
Work on the first National Safety Camera Strategy is at an advanced stage. The Department is working closely with road safety stakeholders, including the NTA, TII, RSA and An Garda Síochána, on how best to implement the Strategy. The Strategy will, focus on speeding, red light running, and bus lane infringements, with flexibility for the enforcement of other types of offence in future. It is expected that the Strategy will be approved early in 2026. Once this strategy is in place, it will provide the framework for increased deployment of cameras across the network, in both urban and rural locations, to assist with the enforcement of a wide range of road traffic offences.
The safety camera strategy will allow for clear identification of the scale and ambit of the overall camera enforcement system needed, which will then allow the appropriate structuring of the procurement process to meet the potential scope of the system, and ensure that the system and any operational contracts are sized and planned correctly. It is the view of the NTA that tendering for equipment and services for just one or two isolated junctions would not provide a system that would be scalable to include other junctions, other areas and other offence types. Extending such an arrangement on an ad hoc basis would require new tender competitions, potentially leading to multiple different camera types and multiple operators, which would create difficulties in both integration and enforcement consistency. It is not the case that red light cameras have been shelved, however; they will be pursued in accordance with the framework established by the wider strategy once finalised.
