Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is calling for a stronger approach to speeding on rural roads, with a specific focus on the Killarney area. The call comes as new figures show that Garda speed vans have collected significantly less revenue in Kerry compared to other counties, suggesting a lack of enforcement.In the Killarney Garda District, fines from speed vans amounted to €78,560 in 2023, €77,600 in 2024, and just €17,120 in the first half of 2025. These figures indicate a downward trend in fines collected locally.Nationally, over €32 million was collected in fines between January 2023 and early June 2025. However, in Kerry, the total collected was only €482,080 during the same period. By comparison, Tipperary saw fines of over €3.3 million.Ní Mhurchú, a member of the EU Transport Committee, is pushing for more speed vans to be deployed at accident black spots and on rural roads in Kerry to improve road safety.

Opinion: Speed vans are not about safety, they are about revenue

By Sean Moriarty
Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has expressed disappointment that speed vans in Kerry collected “only” €482,080 in fines over a 30-month period.
Her choice of words is telling. Instead of welcoming the fact that drivers in Kerry are, by her own figures, driving more safely than in other counties, she frames it as a problem because it does not generate enough money.
This proves what many have argued for years: speed vans are a cash cow. Ní Mhurchú’s comments read more like those of a business owner unhappy with sales figures than a public representative concerned with safety.
Road fatalities in Kerry have shown a decline since 2023. The county recorded 10 deaths on its roads in 2023, which fell to seven in 2024 and three so far in 2025 (up to July). The figures indicate a downward trend in road deaths, reflecting improved road safety in the county over the past two years.

The people of Kerry should be commended, not criticised. If lower fine numbers mean drivers are behaving responsibly, then the vans have served their purpose. Yet the MEP calls for even more vans at rural black spots, as if revenue rather than safety is the real measure of success.
The MEP highlighted that while Garda speed vans collected over €32 million in fines, the Gardaí paid out over €44 million to private operators during a similar period, indicating the system is operating at an overall loss. That’s a failed business model, not a successful road safety campaign.
The use of the word “only” is particularly distressing. Less than half a million euro collected in Kerry in two and a half years should be seen as proof that drivers here are more careful, not as a reason to flood the county with more cameras.
Ní Mhurchú’s disappointment exposes the real function of speed vans is not saving lives, but generating income.