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

This issue arose on Committee Stage and it was Deputy Munster who raised the issue of the fatality in Cork involving an unaccompanied learner driver. It takes such occurrences to make people conscious of this offence. I have become acutely aware of cars displaying L plates in which there is only one person, the driver, and I have made the assumption that the car is being driven by the learner driver but that may not always be the case. In a case where an accident occurs where one of the drivers involved is an unaccompanied learner driver and their car displays L plates, that driver would be found to be driving illegally. It is an a matter for another conversation between the Minister and the Minister for Justice and Equality. There was a time up to when Garda numbers were depleted when traffic patrols and roadside checks were becoming more frequent in all parts of this city and county and throughout the country but they have now become more infrequent. The number learner drivers driving cars displaying L plates and who are unaccompanied by an experienced driver probably runs into hundreds throughout the country. Those offenders are not being caught because they are not being monitored in the way that they were in the past because of depleted Garda numbers, which are growing again.

There have been a few recent notable examples, one which was raised on Committee Stage, where this had fatal consequences. I would welcome the Minister's feedback on this before I take a firm view on it. If it is illegal and if an accident has occurred, then it seems to make sense that evidence of this would be included in the book of evidence presented to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. I would welcome the Minister's informed view on this.

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