Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand his concern about the retrospective nature of what is being proposed. I will be very happy to deal with his point on Committee Stage, but for now, I will sketch out my two principles for believing this is the right approach. First, the particular issue is the application of penalty points, as opposed to the enforcement of penalty points, which occurs after a person has accepted liability for a road traffic offence. I am not seeking to create a new offence, because if I was I would share some of the Deputy’s concerns. I am seeking to deal with the application of penalty points. When an offence has been committed, that is recognised by other parts of our road traffic law, which a person has accepted responsibility for. That has been my guiding insight in believing this issue should be considered.

It is a point at which liability has been accepted. For this reason - Deputy Michael McNamara may understand this better than I do-----

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