Evidence from privately operated speeding cameras on Irish roads can be made to stand up in court, the Attorney General has told the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.
The legal opinion from Mr Rory Brady has cleared the way for legislation that will see 60 private cameras installed on Irish roads by late next year or early 2005.
There were concerns that photographs taken from private cameras would not withstand court challenges by motorists facing speeding prosecutions. However, a Department of Transport official said: "The AG's view is that the chain of evidence should be OK, though the cameras will require primary legislation."
Such evidence would not be admissible under current traffic laws because the Garda Síochána would not directly control them. The changes required to the rules of evidence will be included in the Road Traffic Bill, which will come before the Houses of the Oireachtas next spring.
The Minister for Transport and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, will bring draft legislation to the Cabinet within weeks.
Each camera will cost €30,000 to install. The Department of Transport insists they will not be used to catch motorists for tiny breaches of the law. "The position of the cameras will be decided by the gardaí, not by the company. They will be placed in areas that are known to be dangerous.
"The whole reason for doing this is safety. It isn't to penalise motorists by making money out of them," a Department spokeswoman said.
The number of such cameras will increase over time, although the Department has not decided upon a final number.
The Automobile Association insisted last night that the private operator's revenue must not depend "on how many drivers they catch".
"The best speed cameras catch nobody. Their purpose is to slow drivers down. They change drivers' behaviour," said spokesman Mr Conor Faughnan.
"Left to their own devices, private operators would put cameras at the edge of villages as people are getting ready to leave a 30 m.p.h. zone and catch everybody," he said.
Instead, the operator's revenue should depend on average road speed levels and on the fall in the number of accidents and fatalities.
"It is perfectly possible to devise a payment system on this basis. Each fatal accident costs the State over €1 million when everything is taken into account," he said.
Tenders for the contract, which will run for "four to five years", are being drawn up and will be advertised throughout the European Union next year.
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