Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 16, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:"Amendment of section 106 of Principal Act
15. Section 106 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by inserting after paragraph (a) the following:

"(aa) if injury has been caused to any person, or any person appears to require assistance, the driver of the vehicle shall offer assistance,",

(b) in subsection (3), by inserting after paragraph (a) the following:

"(aa) in a case in which injury is caused to person, and the person who contravenes subsection (1) or subsection (2)—

(i) does so with intent to escape civil or criminal liability, and
(ii) knows that injury has been caused to a person of such nature as to require medical assistance for the person at that place or that the person be brought to a hospital for medical assistance,

on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €10,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 7 years or to both such fine and such imprisonment,
(ab) in a case where injury is caused to person, and the person who contravenes subsection (1) or subsection (2) does so with intent to escape civil or criminal liability, and

(i) knows that the person to whom injury has been caused is dead, or,
(ii) knows that injury has been caused to a person and is reckless as to whether the death of the person injured so results, and the death of the person injured so results,

on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €20,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 10 years or to both such fine and such imprisonment,".

and
(c) by inserting after subsection (3A) the following:

"(3B) In a prosecution under subsection 3(aa) or (ab) evidence that an accused failed to stop his or her vehicle, offer assistance, keep the vehicle at or near the place for a reasonable period, or give the appropriate information is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of an intent to escape civil or criminal liability.".".

I thank the Minister and his officials, who have worked with a number of members to try to resolve a lacuna that existed in the law, particularly as it relates to those individuals who seek to avoid sanction by leaving the scene of a road accident having killed or injured an individual. Much of the motivation from my perspective was based on a case in Monaghan, that of Shane O'Farrell, whose case has gone through the courts. I do not want to comment on it. It struck many of us, including the Minister and his officials, that there was a gap in the law and that it needed to be tidied up. I thank the officials who have worked with us and the Minister for accepting this amendment in the Principal Act. Certainly it will act as a deterrent. It has the capacity to change a culture whereby people felt that by leaving the scene of an accident, whether intoxicated or not, they would not be liable to the provisions of the current legislation, thereby leaving people to die needlessly on the side of the road. This amendment would require people to be of good behaviour, to remain at the scene and to provide whatever assistance is possible to an injured party. Its inclusion in the legislation has the capacity to change the culture that, unfortunately, existed. The motivation was Shane O'Farrell. I hope this provision will become known as "Shane's law" in recognition of Shane, who was a young trainee barrister and who was deeply involved in law.