Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 151:

In page 76, after line 36, to insert the following:

"PART 14

Miscellaneous

106.—(1) Every passenger of a railway undertaking shall, on request by an officer or employee of a railway undertaking, produce, and if so requested, deliver up to the officer or employee a ticket showing that his or her fare is paid and, if the fare has not been paid, shall upon request—

(a) pay, to the officer or employee—

(i) his or her fare from the place where he or she started the journey by railway, or

(ii) such other fare for non-payment of a fare as fixed by the undertaking, as the officer or employee decides, or

(b) give the officer or employee his or her name and address.

(2) A passenger who fails—

(a) to comply with a request under subsection (1) to deliver up a ticket,

(b) to pay the fare required under subsection (1)(a), or

(c) to give his or her name and address, if requested under subsection (1)(b),

is guilty of an offence.

(3) A passenger who—

(a) travels or attempts to travel on a railway of a railway undertaking without having previously paid his or her fare, and with intent to avoid such payment,

(b) having paid his or her fare for a certain distance, knowingly and wilfully proceeds by train beyond that distance without previously paying the additional fare for the additional distance, and with intent to avoid such payment, or

(c) having failed to pay his or her fare, gives in reply to a request by an officer or employee of a railway undertaking a false or misleading name or address,

is guilty of an offence.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,000.

(5) The liability of an offender to a penalty under this section does not prejudice the recovery of any fare payable by him or her.".

The purpose of the amendments is to update the law on fare evasion. The existing law on fare evasion is set out in sections 5 and 6 of the Regulations of Railway Acts 1889, as amended by section 10 of the Transport Act 1987, which I am proposing to repeal in amendments Nos. 155 and 157 and replace with the new section set out in amendment No. 151. The principles in the 1889 Act are still appropriate.

This amendment is essentially to modernise the legislation. Amendment No. 151 requires a person when requested by an employee of a railway company to produce a valid ticket for the journey made. If the person does not have a valid ticket, an employee of the railway company can require him or her to pay the correct fare or the standard fare for fare evasion levied by the railway company, or to give his or her name and address. A person who refuses this request will be guilty of an offence. It will also be an offence to wilfully evade the correct fare or to give a false name and address when requested. Conviction will carry a maximum fine of €1,000 and the offender will still be liable for the unpaid fare or standard fare levied. The prison sentence provided for in the 1889 Act is in excess of penalty and, therefore, I do not propose to include this.

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