John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. I wish to concentrate on one aspect, namely, implementation and enforcement, to which he himself drew attention. In recent weeks there have been some shocking figures to the effect that half of summonses for speeding are not being served. I know this is a matter for the Garda, but 30,600 summonses have been struck out because they were not served. I think the figure for Monaghan is 61% of summonses for speeding not being served, and the figure for Kerry is 59%. I will not go through the statistics for any more counties. Regarding the use of a mobile phone while driving, 71% of those convicted or caught are not prosecuted for some reason. I remember in 2000, when penalty points were first introduced, that one could literally see the slowdown on the roads because everyone presumed they would get their penalty points. However, this quickly dissipated, and when people read these figures, they will tell themselves that even if they are caught, they will get away with it anyway. The fear is that these figures would send out that message. Just as drink-driving has been attacked or dealt with, this needs to be dealt with as well. Judges throwing out Go-Safe van summonses and so on has been a factor in this regard, and the matter has not been addressed.

What is the state of road deaths for January? Does the Minister have those figures yet?