Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Broughan for his important question, which relates an issue that needs to be addressed. I think the failure to co-ordinate information sufficiently is having an adverse effect on road safety. The licensing master plan that is to be introduced, as the Deputy knows, will assist in the fight against road deaths. The RSA is the licensing authority with responsibility for the NDLS, which commenced operation on 29 October 2013.  Some 556,439 driver licence applications were received in 2016.  The NDLS is an umbrella entity that encompasses three independent contractors - a front office, a back office and a card producer - which deliver distinct services resulting in the production of the plastic card licence.  The presence of three separate entities adds to the complexity of the service. Handover issues among the three entities can lead to challenges in managing the NDLS contracts. These challenges were managed in 2016 and as a result, there is now a more streamlined approach between the three entities.

The penalty points system for driving offences was introduced in Ireland on 31 October 2002. Penalty point offences are recorded on a driving licence record if an individual is convicted of a driving offence that attracts penalty points. In the case of a fixed-charge notice for an alleged offence that attracts penalty points, the driver can opt to pay the fine rather than having the matter referred to the courts. Penalty points are endorsed on a driver record by the Department's national vehicle driver file, which is the record of fact for driving licences, on the direction of An Garda Síochána or the courts.  When notification is received from An Post or the Courts Service, the appropriate points are recorded on the driving licence record.

Since the introduction of the penalty points system, there have been two primary reasons penalty points cannot be applied. These are that the penalty point offence record received from the Garda or Courts Service did not include a valid driver number or the offenders were the holders of foreign driving licences.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

A 2014 Garda Inspectorate report recommended that a system be introduced to ensure all penalty points are endorsed on driving licences. The criminal justice working group recommended that integration of the vehicle and driver database components of the national vehicle and driver file, NVDF, system to assist with an optimum allocation of penalty points. It was proposed to create a system to link driving licence holders with one or more vehicles through an NVDF master licence record, MLR. The MLR programme team is investigating the options for populating the MLR electronically at various stages of the vehicle life cycle, including vehicle registration, motor tax renewal, insurance renewal and change of ownership.

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