A much-delayed Government plan to outsource speed cameras has run into a new difficulty over cost.
Six bidders were shortlisted for the privatised speed camera contract - it is intended to target 600 high-accident locations across the State - following a request for information on the Government's e-tendering website in November 2006.
Last November, almost four years after the government first proposed the privatisation of speed cameras, the Garda said the awarding of the contract by the Department of Justice was "imminent".
Yesterday the department said the process was still "under way", and insisted any discussion of costs was "inappropriate".
In a statement issued last night, the department added: "Following completion of the present stage of the process, the Minister intends to submit proposals to the Government shortly on how to proceed."
However, senior transport and administrative sources told The Irish Timesyesterday the proposals had run into cost problems.
The Garda estimated the cost of the scheme at €25 million in March this year, but yesterday sources indicated this was unlikely to be enough.
Sources indicated this was because of the specification for the camera system, which was based on the report of the Working Group on Speed Cameras, published jointly by the ministers for transport and justice in 2005.
This specification envisaged that more than 90 per cent of speed checks would be on regional or rural roads, with more detection on weekends than on weekdays, and more detection between midnight and 3am.
While the primary aim would be to lower road deaths and injuries and not to raise revenue, the working group concluded the cameras could raise €70 million, to more than cover the costs.
The working group calculated the system would have an annual potential of 1.1 million speeding detections, based on monitoring of 11 million vehicles. The revenue was calculated on a likelihood of 80 per cent of detected drivers paying the fine.
It was also proposed that, together with traditional detection methods, this would ensure that 50 per cent of the State's 1.8 million registered vehicles would pass through an active enforcement area at least once a month.
While there has been speculation among officials about the delay in the awarding of the tender for some time, a senior transport source said yesterday: "There is a problem with the budget."
One theory behind the difficulty is that the working group's specification for 1.1 million detections mainly in rural areas and at night would cost much more than €25 million per year, possibly twice as much.
