Mr. John Farrell:

With regard to incentive from an insurance company's point of view, if one has no points on one's licence, one is charged a figure. With two points, that figure increases. It increases proportionately for four and six points. What also happens in insurance is that one will have difficulty getting alternative quotes. If one is with a particular company and one's insurance is annually renewed with it, the company is quite happy when the driver has no points and other companies are quite happy to quote against it. It gives the driver the chance of getting a competitive rate, for want of a better word.

If the driver accumulates points, two things happen. One is that the driver is not as liable to get a quote from a competitor. The second thing is that the driver's existing insurance company treats the driver as an increased risk. Obviously, the driver has more offences and is seen as an increased risk on the road. Therefore, it will increase the premium. Premiums were increased from last year to this year. There is a committee in the Oireachtas looking at that at the moment. Anything that helps to bring that back down is a good thing. Therefore, if the driver takes our proposal by which he or she undertakes monitoring and a class, at the end of that period, by showing the company that the driver was monitored and has a reduction in points, he or she obviously comes back into a position in which he or she can look for competitive quotes. Straight away, there is a financial benefit for the driver, as well as getting the number of penalty points down, improving road skills and contributing to road safety.