Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes - well able to take the heat. I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this new piece of legislation, the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2014.

Before I go into detail, I wish to say that the penalty points issue is driving many people mad. There is no doubt that there is grave injustice in some cases. This leads me to wonder and ask whether this is just another way of making money or of hammering regular people or soft targets who do not generally break the law. They seem to be getting hammered in the neck from every quarter, and the penalty points are just another example of that. Let me give an example. The other morning I was driving to work and saw an unfortunate man in a white van, who was driving to work with his ladder and other gear, drive slightly into the bus lane. Within ten seconds a garda appeared, flashed him down and pulled him aside to give him the full monty. I presume he will get penalty points as a result. The reason I give this example is that one week previously, when I contacted the Garda about part of my constituency that was being intimidated by drug gangs and gang leaders, they said there was nothing they could do about it unless the people being intimidated came to the Garda with the evidence. The point is that the ordinary Johnny in the van who is going to work is hammered, while people who are causing havoc throughout the city are left to walk around freely. People see this as a grave injustice. I do not blame the Minister for that, but that perception exists and is part of what leads to the anger in our broader society. I am horrified at this and want the Minister to understand that when a regular working or unemployed person gets two, three or four points added to his or her licence for something trivial, but there is no action taken on other serious issues, people have a reason to be angry.

To give another example, if the ordinary man in the van has a little Johnny or Mary who plays football on the road, a garda will stop them and warn them that they cannot do that. However, when a public representative contacts a garda to report something or when a community is being devastated by drugs, gardaí will say they have no evidence and can do nothing. That is not the kind of Ireland I want to be part of. Recently, I heard the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, speak about the kind of Ireland he wants to live in. We must be cautious that a nanny state does not evolve.

A change was made to the penalty points system in August and a problem was discovered in early December in regard to how the penalty points were being applied to licences, whereby they were not in order due to an oversight. The Minister then had two choices. He could either give everyone who had received penalty points in between August and December an exemption, or he could retrospectively apply the new rules. I represent the regular working man or woman, and the jobs of some of those people are dependant on not having penalty points. I have met taxi drivers who have lost their taxi plates and licences over the issue of penalty points. This is an issue we must examine. We need a common sense approach.

Despite the fact that choosing option two could lead to legal challenges by individuals who lost their licences during the period after accruing high points, the Attorney General is confident in her opinion that retrospectively applying the new rules, as opposed to applying an amnesty, is within the law and that any such challenge would be unsuccessful. As a result, the Minister went for option two. I call on the Minister to focus on the real issues.

He has a responsibility and I will support him on the broader issue of public safety but I have serious questions about this policy given the issues that constituents raise with me.

Speeding and drink and drug driving are no-nos but what about the little man and little woman who are regularly picked off and fined €80 and who are left wondering about what will happen when they reach eight penalty points for three minor offences they committed while driving back and forth to the shops? I was on Griffith Avenue the other night. There is no speed limit sign but a van was parked on the side of the road picking off people leaving the football club and so on. A total of 35 or 40 people were picked off who might have been ten or 11 km over the speed limit. These are soft targets and it is like shooting fish in a barrel. That generates anger and does nothing for road safety. This was at 9.30 p.m. when the school was locked up with no kids around.

Reference has been made to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Shane O'Farrell case was horrific. A young Trinity College student from County Monaghan was mowed down and killed and nobody batted an eyelid except his mother, Lucia Farrell. She approached us, having approached the previous Minister, and raised the case. The guy who hit him walked free. There is injustice within the system and the law and this also drives people mad. The Minister has to stop letting people down.

There is also an issue about confidence in the penalty points system. A transport policy cannot be implemented without confidence and trust. The penalty points system was seriously damaged when certain people started having their points quashed. I have penalty points and I put my hands up because I should not have committed an offence. However, I recently drove to Kerry and I had to slow down going through every town but it was easy to drive accidentally above the speed limit. I could have returned to Dublin with another six penalty points and been in serious trouble. There has to be confidence and trust in the system and penalty points have to be applied fairly. While the Minister has responsibility for this and I support the legislation, he must recognise the broader picture and not just think that all he has to do is introduce a new scheme to hammer Johnny and Mary who go out to work and obey the law every day of their lives. We need to give them a break. This is linked to a root and branch reform of the entire system.

The Bill makes technical amendments relating to the endorsement of penalty points on a person's driver licence. As of 8 December, there is a fixed charged penalty for the offences of using a vehicle without a valid NCT certificate and parking in a dangerous position with penalty points consequent on payment of the fixed charge. Previously, people accused of these offences were required to go to court and received additional penalty points on conviction. I welcome the reform in this section. The Minister got away lightly with the learner drivers, an issue similar to this. I do not know how many learner drivers there are in the State but 90% of them are law abiding but he has introduced legislation that provides that they must have a fully qualified driver sitting beside them in the car. That does not encourage safe driving. The learner drivers I know are hell of a lot safer than others driving around the State breaking laws left, right and centre. They felt they were a soft target in the public safety debate. I want to represent the soft targets and the regular person.

During drafting of the legislation, a second issue came to light in respect of section 2(1) of the 2002 Act, which provides the basis on which penalty points can be endorsed on a person's record following the payment of a fixed charge. The original reference to this payment came under section 103 of the Road Traffic Act 1961.

I will support the legislation but there are issues the Minister should consider. He said the legislation presents no financial implications for the Exchequer but there are significant financial implications for many innocent people who are being hammered every day by penalty points and by laws that are excessive. At the same time, when they seek safety and protection for their children from drug dealers and drugs gangs, they cannot secure it.

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