COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF JOINT POLICING COMMITTEE

Friday, February 05, 2010

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

Heavy vehicles travelling through built up areas are a source of great concern to residents. Is it possible to have a more even enforcement of the 3 Tonne limit?  What in effect is the real impact of having traffic notices displayed across the County that state e.g. at approaches to Kennelsfort Road, Palmerstown  “.3 Tonne Limit on Kennelsfort Rd. Monitored by CCTV”?   Who does the monitoring and what is the outcome? The rate at which residents observe this law being (apparently) breached on a regular basis undermines both the law (in general) and the Garda Service and leads to a lack of confidence amongst the population who express feelings of vulnerability and frustration.

REPLY:

Responsibility for Garda enforcement of 3 tonne limit on Kennelsfort Road is shared between Garda Regional Traffic Unit based at Dublin Castle, Divisional Traffic Unit based at Blanchardstown and local units based at Ballyfermot and Ronanstown.  From the enforcement point of view, the Gardai must strike a balance in terms of policing the 3 tonne limit, instances were HGV’s are using Kennelsfort Road as a through road and on the other hand HGV’s are permitted to use Kennelsfort Road Industrial premises serviced by this route.  The Garda CCTV system at Ballyfermot is a crime prevention/detection tool it is not to monitor the 3 Tonne Limit on Kennelsfort Road.

On 19/1/10 Superintendent Clavin and Superintendent Quirke met with representatives of Palmerstown Community Council for the purpose of discussing general policing issues pertaining to Palmerstown.  The Gardai agreed at the meeting that they would carry out an enforcement blitz of the Kennelsfort Road during the month of February 2010 for the purpose of assessing the extent of the problem and we will report the outcome at the end of that period.