Mr. David Sheahan:

Yes. With the introduction of penalty points, the practice of physically endorsing the physical licence ceased and the penalty points were placed on the driver's record rather than the actual licence. The submission of the licence was an administrative function which assisted in the identification of the correct record on which the penalty points were to be recorded.

For the benefit of my friend, I point out that, in more recent times, the small ID card driving licence was introduced and this obviously has no capacity to have either a disqualification or penalty points recorded on the actual licence. It is simply used to identify the driver, the class of vehicle the driver is licensed to drive and the correct record on which to record the penalty.

What is crucially important is that the imposition of a disqualification or the recording of penalty points is not reliant on the person submitting the licence. Regardless of whether the licence is submitted, the penalty is recorded, which is the important piece of the process. The real vulnerability and concern in this system is that the licenceholder can present his or her licence to a garda or any other person, perhaps an employer, who, if not educated in the matter, may think that the licence presented is both a clean and valid licence. The option of chasing after people and demanding that they forfeit their driving licence and the pursuit of a prosecution may be a futile exercise. The serious offence is not the non-surrender of the licence but, instead, the driving while disqualified or the fraudulent declaration regarding the status of the licence. The solution to this lies, first, with an understanding that the licence is a means of identifying the driver and the driver record and, second, that a garda has access to the record behind the licence. In the case of a garda, this access has to be immediate.

As can be seen in the submission, this is a complex issue and compliance levels, with drivers producing their driving licence on demand or surrendering their licence following endorsement, fall far short of expected levels of compliance. As a short-term measure, the Garda IT section is developing a report that will allow Garda personnel on the ground to search for disqualified drivers in a particular geographical area. This will assist local Garda personnel in monitoring disqualified drivers to ensure they are not driving while disqualified.

Much of the narrative around the surrender of driving licences by disqualified drivers appears to indicate a common perception that by surrendering a driving licence following disqualification, the disqualified person will not drive. Unfortunately, what happens in practice is somewhat different. The surrender of a driving licence is not a reliable indicator that a disqualified driver will not drive, nor is the failure to surrender a driving licence a reliable indicator that a disqualified driver will drive. From a road safety perspective, a greater deterrent is required. There is a provision in the First Schedule to the Road Traffic Act 2002, at reference No. 6, which is an enabling provision for the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport for declaring the non-production of a driving licence on demand as a penalty point offence. My belief is that this would bring about a change in culture in terms of peoples’ attitude to possession of a driving licence and the significance and importance of having a driving licence.

The most effective deterrent to driving while disqualified is that Garda personnel can, by means of a user-friendly mobile device at the side of the road, check if a person is disqualified or not. Modern mobile digital data devices, when applied to policing, afford a wide range of opportunities to a police service to improve the service they deliver to the public and increased visibility. With a mobile device, a member can connect to Garda systems to read and capture policing data and, effectively, become a mobile police station.

An Garda Síochána is currently conducting a pilot in Limerick to uncover the most appropriate means of informing and guiding future investment in the latest mobile technology solutions for An Garda Síochána. In the six months of the pilot, the users of the new Garda traffic app have noticed that detection of offences, such as non-payment of motor tax, driver penalty point disqualifications and stolen property, have improved as a direct result of having access to the app with instant details from PULSE. The member can now check on the side of the road without contacting or returning to the station and can increase visibility by remaining on the roadside. There is also a tangible change in the attitude of the public when they see that the member now has a smart mobile data device, ranging from more respect to quicker admission of guilt than may have been expected previously.

By providing the member with access to real-time information at the scene, use of the current driving licence insurance production, DLIP, process could be greatly reduced. Making available current driving licence, road tax, NCT and insurance information would make roadside checks and issuing of fixed charge notices more efficient. This would enable a member to make informed decisions and detect deliberate attempts to evade prosecution by providing false or misleading information. It was for this reason that a forward-focused solution was sought, rather than getting tangled in the historical problem that existed. Of course, this will require investment but it is an investment in our core strategy of saving lives on our roads. If members of the committee wish to see the app, I have it with me and I can show them how it works.