Two more key initiatives of the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, have become tied up in red tape, the Department of Transport acknowledged last night.
The setting up of a non-Garda road traffic corps and the State-wide deployment of speed cameras will both require new regulations to be in place before they come into force next year.
The roll out of speed cameras which was first promised by Government in 1998 as part of the then road safety strategy, The Road to Safety will now require "primary legislation" the Attorney General's office has advised the Minister.
Minister Brennan had hoped to speed up the process after it became known that only about three cameras have film in them at any one time.
The Minister believes the processing of prosecutions could be handled by a private company which would be allowed to add additional cameras and operate in much the same way as clampers. However, a spokesman for the Department acknowledged last night that "there are legal issues to be unravelled".
The spokesman added that "anything to do with moving traffic - as opposed to parked traffic - has up to now been handled by the Garda and there are issues about the admissibility of evidence taken by a private operator."
In relation to the non-Garda traffic corps the spokesman said the issue was complicated by whether civilians would have the power of arrest.
This and other issues remained to be worked out between Mr Brennan and the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
The spokesman said, however, that it was still hoped to have the traffic corps working in Dublin on a pilot basis early next year.
The Minister is to bring a new Road Traffic Bill to Government early in the new year which could become law before the end of 2004, and the Department is planning to include measures in the Bill to overcome the current difficulties, the spokesman added.
