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LYNCH SPEECH - Seanad Adjournment Matter Speech by Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People, 16 October, 2012

The need for the Minister for Justice and Equality to discuss the need for cross border cooperation to monitor and prevent dangerous and anti-social driving practices on the N54/A3 ‘concession road’; the discussions that have taken place at north/south ministerial council on same; and if he has had discussions with an Garda Siochána on this issue.

- Senator Kathryn Reilly

I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the adjournment. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who regrets that he is unable to be present due to other business. The Minister shares your concern about these incidents of anti-social driving behaviour and the impact it has on local communities.

On behalf of the Minister I want to assure this House that the level of road traffic enforcement is high throughout the country and that effective roads policing is central to the Garda Policing Plan. Enforcement activities are focused on the main causes of deaths and serious injury on our roads and Members of An Garda Síochána carry out planned and unplanned checkpoints to detect breaches across the whole range of road traffic and transport legislation. Effective roads policing has been a critical component in the success of the current Road Safety Strategy and the substantial reduction we have seen in road traffic fatalities over recent years. This emphasis in policing strategy will continue into the future.

Insofar as the particular incidents described by the Senator are concerned, the Minister is informed by the Garda authorities that the activity referred occurs on a stretch of road which traverses through County Fermanagh on the N.54/A3. Accordingly, responsibility for road safety enforcement on that particular stretch of road rests with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). On behalf of the Minister, I can assure the House, however, that An Garda Síochána monitors traffic and performs static checkpoints at strategic locations on the proportion of the road in this State.

The incidents in question are of great concern and the Minister understands can include occasions where traffic is stopped on the stretch of road and law-abiding motorists are prevented from proceeding while individuals perform dangerous driving manoeuvres before gatherings of spectators.

In light of the seriousness of these incidents and the particular geographical circumstances, there is close collaboration between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI with joint operations conducted to target these anti-social driving practices. The Minister understands that there has been positive feedback with respect to these joint operations and their deterrent impact and that the Garda authorities and the PSNI have been proactive with regard to road safety enforcement measures in this area and its surrounds.

The Garda authorities have assured the Minister that these operations will continue to be prioritised in the future.

Furthermore, the Minister can assure the House that An Garda Síochána and the PSNI maintain ongoing close liaison with local public representatives on both sides of the border in relation to this matter, including local Joint Policing Committees. It is the case that a delegation of local public representatives met with the North/South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat last year but the Senator will appreciate that what is at issue is principally an operational policing matter, and accordingly what is important is police co-operation on the ground. The Minister has been assured that this is happening.

Specifically, the Commissioner has assured the Minister that these joint operations to combat and disrupt the behaviour concerned will continue to be prioritised. I will of course share the Senator’s concerns regarding this matter with the Minister who I am sure will in turn consult further with the Garda authorities.