The Minister for Justice has said it is deeply regrettable that handheld laser speed guns used by gardaí were not adequately covered by the relevant legislation.
Yesterday the High Court ruled that the use of the guns, which do not produce a written or permanent record of the alleged speed, does not meet the requirements set out in the Road Traffic Act 2002.
The ruling means that thousands of prosecutions for speeding could be threatened.
Minister Michael McDowell said he recognised that it was very frustrating for members of An Garda Síochána that the legislature had not given them the law required to make the guns effective.
But he said he hoped the situation had been remedied in subsequent legislation passed last year, which alters the requirements.
Mr McDowell was speaking at the announcement of the appointment of three new Assistant Garda Commissioners - Assistant Commissioner Edward Rock, Assistant Commissioner James Kelly and Assistant Commissioner Martin Callinan.
Assistant Commissioner Rock will assume overall responsibility for the new garda traffic corps.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the laser speed guns, he said what had happened had happened, and he now looked forward to putting policy into practice which would see increased garda visibility and enforcement on the country's roads.
He denied he was facing an uphill struggle in trying to get Irish motorists to change their behaviour.
The new traffic corps will see the numbers of gardaí directly involved in traffic duties climb from 500 to 1,200 over the next two years.
Mr McDowell said the key element of the new traffic corps would be making the public aware that they will face vigorous enforcement of the road safety laws.
