John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It would be interesting to know how many fines for €2,000 have been issued. I know the Minister cannot get that information now and it would come under the Department of Justice and Equality. The Minister might be able to provide Deputies with those figure in the next period. I would be interested to know how that is enforced. We are all familiar with the penalty points that accrue when a person is caught using a mobile phone while driving. Deputy Broughan outlined the thousands of penalty points that are imposed for different driving offences and using a mobile phone ranks high among them. It would be interesting for the House to have information on how many times the €2,000 fine has been enforced. I was not conscious there was such a significant fine in place until the Minister clarified it in the context of this amendment. I would have thought there was a lower end fine in line with the figure Deputy Broughan proposed in his amendment. I do not need those figures today but it would be useful if they could be furnished to Deputies.

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