Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann,

reiterates its concern on road safety and the continued loss of life on Irish roads;

recognises the impact the penalty points system has had on road safety;

notes with concern that the weaknesses in enforcing the penalty points system will reduce the impact of penalty points on driver behaviour;

acknowledges the severe strain the District Court is under in hearing fixed charge penalty cases; and

acknowledges the failure of the system when drivers on 12 points fail to voluntarily surrender their licence and continue to drive;

calls on the Government:

to bring forward legislation as a matter of urgency to reform the penalty points system that will ensure all fixed charge penalties are collected and enforced; and

to reform the system that requires legally disqualified drivers to surrender their licences and instead gives the Garda responsibility for collection of these licences.

May I share time with a number of Deputies? It is not a problem for the Minister.

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