Mr. Michael Finn:

Correct. We have brought in a fixed charge notice that can apply to cyclists, of which my colleague, Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid has reminded me. He is very disappointed to hear that a person was cycling up Kildare Street the wrong way. We will pursue such offenders as we now have fixed charge notice for that.

The legislation being considered on motorists observing a minimum distance when passing cyclists will be problematic in terms of its enforcement in some areas. It will be hard to adhere to the 1.5 m distance. Not everyone will understand how to measure that. Motorists would nearly need a tape to measure if they are maintaining a 1.5 distance and if they are stopped in traffic a cyclist can move in beside them. There must be two-way responsibility. Cyclists must accept that they cannot move out in the path of motorists. A motorist may be complying with the law but the cyclist may not be playing his or her part in terms of compliance. Enforcing the measure will be challenging in some ways. As a yardstick, yes it is a good measure. If the message we deliver from this debate is to tell motorists to stay out on the road, away from cyclists, that is a good thing. Cyclists, because of potholes and other works on roads, can deviate and motorists need to be mindful of that.

I concur with the Deputy regarding having a variation in the awarding of penalty points. It does not seem logical that the same penalty points would be awarded regardless of whether one is 2 km/h or 22 km/h over the speed limit. Maybe that is an area we should examine.