Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. As the Deputy will be aware, legislation in this area is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 provides that it is an offence not to produce a driving licence or permit and a copy of the licence or permit to the court when appearing to answer an accusation or a charge of commission of specified offences under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 2010. The Deputy will also appreciate that the courts are, subject to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and the conduct of any court case is a matter for the presiding judge.

Since May 2012, the Courts Service has put in place arrangements to ensure the summonses issued include wording to advise persons charged with an offence under the Road Traffic Acts to bring their driving licence together with a photocopy of the licence when they are attending court. The Minister is informed that the service has communicated with the Judiciary to facilitate an arrangement whereby defendants who appear before the court are requested in court to produce their driving licence and a copy thereof to the court registrar for the purpose of having the driving licence number recorded. In addition, registrars have been requested to record irrespective of whether the licence or a copy thereof was produced to the court. Where the driving licence number is recorded and on conviction, the details are provided to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The Courts Service has advised the Minister that the revised summonses issued from May 2012 began appearing in court lists in September 2012 and initial statistics show a small increase in the number of driving licence numbers collected since the new procedures were introduced. However, the service also informed the Minister that it is too early to draw definitive conclusions as the systems put in place require further time to become fully effective.

In relation to cases where the driving licence number has not been produced, the service has indicated it is continuing to evaluate the systems in place to ensure they are fully functional to provide the Garda Síochána, in due course, with the necessary information to initiate prosecutions. The service has informed the Minister that work is ongoing in this area and it has undertaken to provide a further update on the arrangements by the end of July 2013. The Minister will consider the matter further when he receives this report. He hopes the Deputy will appreciate that the every effort is being made by the Courts Service, as is proper, and in so far as is possible within its remit, to ensure the robustness of the systems in place to ensure compliance with the provisions of section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Minister appreciates his interest in the administration of the courts.

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