The cameras are being planned for roads around Dublin following the success of a pilot project at Blackhall Place.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) also confirmed that more of these cameras will be installed in the coming months to intensify the monitoring and enforcement of traffic violations, specifically breaking red lights, particularly at road junctions.
The first of these traffic light cameras are expected to be in place at the capital’s busiest junctions and along bus lanes within the first half of 2025.
There are also plans in place to follow up with cameras in Cork, Limerick, and Galway before the end of the year.
The cameras will catch motorists who break red lights, block yellow boxes, or illegally use bus lanes.
They will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to identify lawbreakers and automatically issue fines.
The cameras are seen as a low-cost, more efficient way to police busy traffic junctions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and take pressure off An Garda Síochána.
Leo Lieghio, whose daughter Marsia (16) was killed crossing the road in 2005. Pic: Gerry Mooney
Leo Lieghio, a board member of the Irish Road Victims’ Association and a father who tragically lost his 16-year-old daughter, Marsia, in 2005 after she was hit by a car while crossing the road, told the Irish Independent that introducing these cameras is a “good first step.”
“It’s working in other countries, so it’s time for us to use the technology because it’s out there to make a difference,” he said.
“Anything that helps us try and save lives on the road is a bonus, and this is absolutely needed.
“Guards have enough on their plates,” he added.
He said the use of technology could go even further by using cameras to spot if people are not wearing seatbelts or if they’re using their mobile phones while driving.
“At our last conference, we saw cameras which cost roughly €20k in operation in the Netherlands, using orbital signals that take high-definition photographs of people committing traffic violations,” he added.
“There should be GPS tracking systems on cars for their speed, especially for people who have been caught speeding before. They should be required to install them at their own expense.
“I think driving courses should be done in conjunction with speeding fines. In other countries, you’re put off the road and forced to carry out these courses, and families who are victims can come in and tell their stories if they’re willing so that these drivers can learn first-hand the damage they can cause.”
174 people lost their lives on Irish roads in 2024, according to the Road Safety Authority.
The deaths were the result of 160 fatal collisions across our roads throughout the last year.
The total figure is down from 181 in 2023, according to statistics from An Garda Síochána.
Dublin had the highest fatality rate with 23 road deaths, followed by Cork with 19, Mayo with 19, and Donegal with 17.
These counties had the highest number of deaths in 2024, accounting for nearly half of the total fatalities in 2024.
Outgoing Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan had said earlier last year that he wanted the first cameras to be operational in cities nationwide in 2025, and that timeline is now achievable.
He also previously said the cameras would “greatly save on resources” in terms of garda time because fines could be processed automatically.
The NTA has also confirmed it is working with the Road Safety Authority to see whether a Camera Enforcement System could be introduced on a “national basis” for certain road traffic offences.
This would “augment the enforcement activities” of An Garda Síochána in this area.
The cameras were introduced on a pilot basis in 2015 at traffic lights at the junction of Blackhall Place and the Luas Red Line in Dublin’s north inner city by then Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe.
Red-light offences incur three penalty points and an €80 fine, rising to €120 if not paid within 28 days. There were no successful court appeals against prosecutions resulting from the pilot scheme.
The cameras cost €30,000 to install and were operated for just six months. But in that time, 813 violations of the light were detected.
The NTA said that installing these red-light cameras at one or two specific locations “would not provide a system that would be scalable contractually to cover other junctions”.
Trying to expand this system later on without a clear plan or on a sporadic basis may mean the use of different kinds of cameras and multiple operators, which would make the system harder to coordinate.
Regarding which specific locations these red-light systems will be installed in Dublin, An Garda Síochána confirmed that this information “has not yet been disclosed”.
A Garda spokesperson added they are “currently engaging with the National Transport Agency (NTA) to establish how this scheme will operate”.
