Nearly half a million euro was collected in fines from Garda speed vans in Kerry in the last two and a half years.
Figures obtained by Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú show €482,000 was collected in fines from speed vans in Kerry since January 2023.
MEP Ní Mhurchú is calling for more speed vans to be located in Kerry, and for the current stock to be positioned smarter so they target areas at highest risk of fatalities.
In 2023, just under €200,000 was collected in fines from garda speed vans in Kerry.
The money collected in the Listowel garda district in 2023 was less than half of what was collected in the Tralee and Killarney districts.
Last year, over €220,000 was collected in fines from speed vans in Kerry.
Between 1 January and 8 June this year, just €62,000 has been collected from speed van fines in Kerry, half of which was collected in the Tralee Garda District alone.
MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is calling for a get-tough approach to those who are caught doing excessive speeds on rural roads.
She says there should be more speed vans at accident blackspots and on rural roads in Kerry, where speeding is dramatically impacting on road safety.
The figures released to her from An Garda Síochána show significantly more money was collected in fines from speeding vans in other counties.
Over €6.2 million was collected in Dublin in the last two and a half years, while over €3.3 million was collected in such fines in Tipperary.
An Garda Síochána provided the following statement to Radio Kerry:
An Garda Síochána is committed to road safety with our partner GoSafe who operate Mobile Safety Camera Vans under contract.
An Garda Síochána has consistently stated and highlighted that Mobile Safety Camera Vans are not about raising revenue, they are directed for deployment in High Collision Prone Zones on a repetitive and recurring basis in order to change driver behaviour and pattern in those zones to make those designated zones safer.
In 2023, in direct response to rising road fatalities, An Garda Síochána provided additional funding for an increase in GoSafe monitoring hours. In 2024 and again for 2025 this increase in annual monitoring hours from 6,000 hours to 9,000 hours every month has been sustained, directly demonstrating An Garda Síochána's and GoSafe's commitment to making our roads safer.
An overall reduction in the number of Fixed Charge Notices issued by Mobile Safety Camera Vans is an indication of increased compliance with speed limits by drivers in the identified and monitored Safety Camera Zones.
In 2024 over 96,500 Fixed Charge Notices for speeding were issued from Mobile Safety Camera vans, compared to approximately 110,000 Fixed Charge Notices in 2023.
The locations of Safety Camera Zones are reviewed by An Garda Síochána on a regular basis.
The location of Safety Camera Zones are published on the Garda website.
