Madam, - Both Garda representative associations claim that a lack of resources prevents the proper enforcement of the speeding law and the penalty points system. Given this unwillingness or inability to enforce these laws, responsibility for doing so should be removed from the Garda.
The job of enforcing speed limits (and possibly other driving offences) and of administering fines should be put out to public tender. The successful candidate would be required to complete the job to a certain standard in order to retain a percentage of the fines.
Car-clamping is a law enforcement activity which has been outsourced to the private sector. If this model of traffic law enforcement were copied to enforce the speeding laws, the only need for Garda involvement would be to aid in prosecutions for non-payment of fines. This system would lessen the workload of gardaí. and capture for the State some of the benefits of the private sector approach, thus increasing State revenues. Thirdly, it would create employment in the company which successfully tendered, while freeing Garda resources for other duties.
Public competition for this tender would be in line with government support for public-private partnership - the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has already suggested contracting out administrative work.
Given Pat Rabbitte's emphasis at the Labour party conference on the quality of public services, rather than on who provides them, tendering might even enjoy cross-party support. Finally, the successful company would prove very quickly whether or not enforcing the speeding laws uses up resources (as gardaí allege) or is in fact an area that could generate revenue, like car-clamping. - Yours, etc.,
RALPH BENSON, Victoria Street, Dublin 8.