O’Donovan calls for Transport Committee to review operation of Go Safe vans

Speeding cases involving Go Safe vans dismissed

Fine Gael TD for Limerick and Member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, Patrick O’Donovan, has written to the committee Chair, John O’Mahony TD to request that a review of the operation of Go Safe vans be carried out. This appeal comes following the dismissal today, by Judge Seán MacBride, of all speeding cases involving Go Safe vans in Cavan and Monaghan.

“I recently raised this issue following media reports of a similar nature in County Limerick. Today Judge MacBride dismissed all speeding cases before him involving Go Safe vans in Cavan and Monaghan, and last month 98 similar cases were dismissed in Clare.

“I have written to the Chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee requesting that he invite the representatives from the relevant Departments, the Garda Síochána, the operators of the Go Safe vans, together with legal practitioners to come before the committee.

“It is clear that the system is not working at the moment. There are questions around the issuing of notices, as well as the location of vans and I believe that these, and other issues, need to be discussed in detail. I hope that the Transport Committee gets the opportunity to do so without delay.”

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**Below is a reply I received to a recent Parliamentary Question that I submitted to the Minister for Justice on the Go Safe vans.

DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Justice and Equality (Ms. Fitzgerald)
by Deputy Patrick O’Donovan for WRITTEN on Wednesday, 12th November, 2014. 

  *  To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide details in tabular form by District Court and circuit area by month since the introduction of Go Safe in 2009 of the cases dismissed by judges because of claims by motorists that they had not received notifications of the speeding fines in the post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. – Patrick O’Donovan

REPLY.
The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter.  Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of information on the courts system.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that it is unable to supply the reasons why a case is dismissed nor is it possible to extract cases recorded by Go Safe cameras from the overall camera offences figures.   Set out in the table below is the number of cases dismissed in respect of all camera offences for each District Court area for each year from 2009 to date.

The breakdown of cases by month is not readily available.  The compilation of such statistics would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort to prepare and could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.

I can also inform the Deputy that my Department, in consultation with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service is currently studying the arrangements required to bring into effect section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010.  This will provide a person with a ‘third payment option’ upon receipt of a summons in respect of a fixed charge notice for relevant traffic offences, as an alternative to attending court.