There has been a 32% drop in the number of Gardaí assigned to the Traffic Corps in the Roscommon/Longford division since 2011.
The information has been highlighted by local TD Eugene Murphy after a parliamentary questions to Fianna Fáil show that the number of Gardaí assigned to the Traffic Corps is continuing to decline.
In 2011 there were 940 officers dedicated to roads policing. This declined to 669 in 2016 and fell further to 643 in 2017.
“The figures show that the number of Garda assigned to road policing duties has fallen significantly in recent years.
In Galway for example there has been a decrease of 27% in Garda Traffic Corps since 2010 as the numbers have fallen from 51 officers in 2010 to 37 in 2017.
In the Roscommon/Longford Garda division there has been a drop of 32% in the number of Garda Traffic Corps since 2011 as the numbers have fallen from 25 officers in 2011 to just 17 in 2017.
“In Sligo/Leitrim there has been a decrease of 32% since 2010 in the number of Garda Traffic Corps from 34 in 2010 to just 23 in 2017.
The Road Safety have highlighted the need for a substantial increase in the number of Gardaí assigned to the Traffic Corps but according to these figures that has fallen on deaf ears as it seems that road policing and safety isn’t really a priority for this Government.
“We hear spin a lot of spin about increases in Garda resources, however it seems that the Traffic Corps has not benefited from an increase in resources. Instead quite the opposite is occurring, with the number of officers assigned to the Traffic Corps actually falling between 2016 and 2017,” concluded Deputy Murphy.
