Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

As I indicated on Committee Stage, the development of the support system for the penalty points system involved significant and ongoing consultation with all the State agencies involved, including the Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the vehicle registration unit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The system involved the establishment of data linkages between the national driver file and the relevant information technology systems in the Garda Síochána and the Courts Service. An intrinsic part of the system is that all the endorsements of penalty points on a licence record and all disqualifications are recorded on the national driver file. There have been further allegations of loopholes in the penalty points system recently but that appears to be more anecdotal than real.

When this point arose on Committee Stage I told Deputies Olivia Mitchell and Shortall that I would set out the procedure for them. To clarify the penalty points disqualification procedure, any driver who accumulates 12 penalty points is disqualified for six months under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 2002. In accordance with section 5 of the Act a driver is automatically notified by the vehicle registration unit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on behalf of the Department of Transport that he or she has reached 12 penalty points and will be disqualified 28 days from the date of the notice. The notification also directs the person to surrender his or her licence to the appropriate licensing authority within 14 days of the date of disqualification. It is an offence under section 5 of the Road Traffic Act not to surrender one's driving licence to a licensing authority. At the same time, a copy of the disqualification notice is sent to the Garda Commissioner, the authorised officer of the relevant motor tax office and the Department of Transport. I understand the details of such disqualifications are now directly entered on to the PULSE system. Upon expiry of the period allowed for the surrender of the driving licence, a notice is issued by the vehicle registration unit to the Garda Síochána informing it whether a licence has been surrendered. It is an offence under section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 to drive without a driving licence. To suggest that a person can continue to drive while disqualified because he or she or the Garda did not know that he or she is disqualified is untenable given the notification procedure in place. A notification of payment of a fixed charge from the Garda Síochána or a conviction in the courts in respect of any penalty point offence results in points being recorded on the licence record in the national driver file and the automatic notification of penalty points incurred and the total number of penalty points on a person's record.

By 31 March 2006, 34 drivers had already served a disqualification period of six months. Of the 13 drivers currently disqualified, eight have already surrendered their licences. A further seven drivers are in the process of being disqualified and will be required to surrender their licences within 14 days of the disqualification becoming active. The point is that disqualified drivers hand over their licences. There is nobody outstanding who has not surrendered his or her licence.

See this speech in context