Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I will deal with Deputy McEntee's point in a minute. With regard to amendment No. 31, what Deputy Broughan is proposing is that the offer of a fixed penalty notice to specified persons for certain offences be removed. The introduction of the lower blood alcohol limit has been the subject of much debate and discussion and I am anxious that, particularly in the early stages following its introduction, a certain amount of fairness should be applied to allow drivers to adjust to the new lower limits. There is a certain amount of truth in what the Deputy says, in view of the fact that the offence incurs three penalty points rather than the penalty that applied previously. However, I was persuaded by the arguments put by a wide variety of people that initially, because there may be an element of doubt about whether one is over the limit, we should be reasonable about giving people a fair warning. If somebody is caught, he or she will know the next time that a glass of wine is too much, or whatever. On that basis, I do not wish to withdraw the option of a fixed penalty notice.

Deputy McEntee mentioned the retention of penalty points on a person's licence for five years as specified in section 29(5). This has been raised by a few people and I have considered the fact that the points are imposed for five years rather than three years. If the House is willing to agree, I do not have a difficulty with reducing this to three years. The points may remain on a person's licence for five years, but he or she has had a warning and received three points, so it is almost irrelevant whether they remain for five or three years. If the House is agreeable I will amend the section to specify three years instead of five.

See this speech in context