GARDA speed vans collected more than €1.4million in Limerick in the past 30 months, however figures released by Garda Headquarters show the speed van system operating at a loss.
€32.4m was collected in fines from Garda speed vans nationally between January 2023 and June 2025, despite Gardaí paying out over €44m to private speed camera operators from January 2023 to August 2025, according to figures provided by An Garda Síochána to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.
There was a drop off across all Garda districts nationally in speed fine collections between 2023 and 2024, according to the figures.
Despite the drop off nationally, a €60,800 surplus in fixed charge notices issued for non-intercept speeding offences between 2023 and 2024 was recorded between the Limerick Garda districts of Newcastle West and Roxboro Road.
A deficit of €7,120 was recorded out of the Bruff Garda District, down from €107,920 to €100,800, for the same period.
Revenue generated from the speed fines in the Newcastle West District between 2023 and 2024 increased from €122,700 to €152,240.
Revenue generated for the same period in the Roxboro Road District increased from €354,160 to €392,560.
Ms Ní Mhurchú, who sits on the European Union Transport Committee, questioned why revenue from speed vans fell by 15.9 per cent between 2023 and 2024 nationally.
She said the State needed to employ more of a “get-tough approach” to motorists who are caught doing excessive speeds on roads.
The Fianna Fáil MEP added that, in her opinion, there should be a greater concentration of speed vans at accident black spots, particularly on rural roads where, she said, “speeding is dramatically impacting on road safety”.
Dublin and Tipperary were two of the highest grossing counties for Garda speed van collections followed by Cork and Kildare.
Limerick was the eighth highest grossing county for Garda speed vans in the period, taking in €1,411,760.
According to Ní Mhurchú, speeding caused the deaths of 52 Irish people in 2024.
“A European Commission report from 2020 estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of all crashes and 30 per cent of all fatal crashes are the direct result of speeding or inappropriate speed. 174 people died on Irish roads in 2024, which means that 52 of those people died as a direct result of speeding,” she said.
“There are 52 families across the country mourning loved ones because we have failed to tackle speeding in any meaningful way.”
