Local authorities have been criticised by the Minster for Transport, Martin Cullen, for not changing inappropriate speed limits as planned.
He said it was a "direct frustration" to him that he had given local authorities the power to regulate speed limits in their own areas but they were failing to do so. "They should get on with it," he said on Today FM's Last Word programme yesterday.
Motorists have complained that some speed limits are too slow on certain roads, while residents in other areas have complained that speed limits are too high on poor roads.
Mr Cullen said he had written again "to all of the local authorities, all of the managers and indeed the mayors and cathaoirleachs to say 'please, will you get this item to the top of your agenda to resolve this issue'."
He praised the increased visibility of gardaí on the roads and said 46,000 drivers had been detected breaking the speed limit between April and June.
Gardaí are issuing about 1,000 penalty point notices every day, half of which are for speeding offences.
Garda spokesman Supt Kevin Donohoe yesterday rejected claims that gardaí only carried out spot checks on motorways where it was easier to catch speeding motorists.
"Some 2 per cent of Garda enforcement activity takes place on motorway or dual-carriageway type roads which accounts for approximately 500 km," he said. "The remaining enforcement activity - 98 per cent - occurs on primary and secondary roads throughout the country."
He said it was clear that the message about drinking and driving was still not getting through, as 7,863 drink-driving offences were detected in the first six months of this year. This was a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell yesterday voiced doubts about the appropriateness of introducing a zero alcohol limit for motorists. He said the most important thing was to enforce the existing limits and get people to comply with them.
"A zero alcohol limit . . . would mean that if you went out for a few pints last night, you could well be committing an offence going to work this morning."
