Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned cost, but he will have seen in his briefing documents since becoming Minister that each fatality costs the nation over €2 million, besides the incredible and devastating impact on families. There is no question that the cost-benefit analysis would encourage him to implement the section urgently. While efforts were made at the justice working group under the Minister's predecessor and the previous Minister for Justice and Equality, there are still issues about how the Courts Service implements the penalty points legislation. The House has done its job in passing the legislation and it is now for the Courts Service and An Garda Síochána to enforce it and the Minister's Department to invigilate it. While I welcome the figures provided for the numbers of crashes and collisions this year, there is still an onus to ensure the two Departments work smoothly together and that people who have earned penalty points for careless driving and misbehaving with mobile phones, etc. have them applied to their licences immediately. I urge the Minister again to ask the working group to deliver on and implement section 44, as well as section 12 of the 2014 Act.

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