Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for tabling the amendment. We are talking about people who drive or attempt to drive when they are knowingly medically unfit to drive. This is a serious matter and, unlike most penalty point offences, is not a fixed-charge offence. Incidentally, this provision is included under section 48 of the 1961 Act. The reference to the 2010 Act in the Deputy's amendment relates to a 2010 amendment to a Schedule to the 1961 Act, which happens to reference section 48, where provision is made for the offence to go straight to court. For someone accused under this provision, the penalty for a first offence is a fine of up to €1,000 and up to one month in prison. For a second and subsequent offence, there is a fine of up to €2,000 and up to three months in prison.

Penalty points are set out in the first Schedule to the Road Traffic Act 2002. Any change to the points must be made by amending that Schedule. This is because the power to endorse points on a person's record is legally tied to that Schedule. If we were to agree to what the amendment proposes, we would have two different sets of points for the same offence under the law: three points under the 2002 Act and five points as outlined in the proposed amendment. The new proposal for five points could not be endorsed on the person's record as it is not in the Schedule to the 2002 Act. The existing three points referenced in the Schedule could not be endorsed because they would, arguably, be superseded by the points the amendment references and, in the end, the person would get no points. I know that is not what the Deputy intends by the amendment. However, the proposal to deal with one penalty point offence in isolation would not achieve what he wants; rather, it would be the opposite. I invite him to withdraw the amendment. As I said, this is in the context of the offence not being a fixed-charge offence, and where it presently goes to court.