Gardaí must police roads ‘around the clock’ to cut death toll, says minister

Junior transport minister Jack Chambers has called on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to confirm there is no gap in dedicated road policing during the “particularly dangerous” period between 2am and 7am most days.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has promised to tackle the rising death toll on Irish roads, with 63 people killed so far this year.

It emerged last week that the commissioner had instructed all frontline gardaí to spend 30 minutes on road policing during every shift.

However, Mr Chambers has now called on Mr Harris to set out a “specific policing plan”.

“We need to have absolute enforcement 24 hours a day and we cannot have gaps if we’re going to reach strengthened levels of enforcement,” he said.

“That’s why we need clarity on the key performance indicators on the policing plans relating to roads policing in particular. I acknowledge the serious concerns that have been raised relating to that particular period of the day.

“The commissioner should set out and clarify that for the public so there is no gap in policing at a particularly dangerous part of the day when there might be more intoxicated driving, for example, while enforcement levels need to improve.”

Mr Chambers said the garda chief needed to “set out the specific policing plan relating to 24/7 in addition to the roads policing units”.

“We also have to have measurable improvement in the actual levels of enforcement, which reduced in that particular period,” he added.

Mr Chambers also said an additional 75 gardaí would be deployed to road policing units this year and next.

The Government has come under pressure to act as the death toll rises. In a meeting this week between ministers and the Road Safety Authority (RSA), it was agreed to reduce NCT and driving test waiting times.

The 63 deaths on the roads so far this year is well ahead of the same period last year. At total of 188 people died on Irish roads in 2023, the worst figure in nearly a decade.

According to the proposed plan, specialist road traffic officers will work until 3am on Friday and Saturday, but will stop before 2am every other night, before their shifts start again at 7am.

There are 627 members of Garda Roads Policing Units (GRPUs), down from 688 last year and 692 in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has reacted with “extreme disappointment” to Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s refusal to attend its annual conference in Co Mayo next week.

Her decision follows the GRA announcement last month that Mr Harris would not be invited to the event.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said Ms McEntee decided it would “not be appropriate” to attend the conference.

The policing body, which represents around 11,000 frontline officers, said last month it “could not maintain credibility” if Mr Harris was invited to the congress.

The decision not to invite the commissioner, which was made following a vote by the GRA central executive committee, came just five months after nearly 99pc of frontline gardaí balloted said they did not have confidence in the commissioner.

In a statement issued yesterday by GRA president Brendan O’Connor and general secretary Ronan Slevin, they said the minister’s decision not to attend is “extremely disappointing and shows a clear lack of understanding of the issues affecting our members”.

Ms McEntee said she engaged with the GRA and asked members to reconsider the decision not to invite the commissioner.

In its statement yesterday, the GRA said: “The invitation to the conference was sent months ago, yet just six days prior to the conference the minister has informed us that she will not attend.

“While we can accept that the minister has a busy schedule, the reasoning for her non-appearance was not a prior, more pressing engagement, but instead a show of solidarity and support for the garda commissioner, who had not been extended an invitation.

“Commissioner Harris had not received an invitation as he had lost the support of the GRA membership, shown by the unprecedented vote back in September, which returned almost 99pc of all GRA members voting no confidence in the commissioner.”

‘The 63 deaths on the roads so far this year is well ahead of the same period last year’