Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 requires that when people are alleged to have committed a road traffic offence, they must produce their driver's licence and a photocopy of the licence when they appear in court. There are also fines of between €1,000 and €2,000 for failure to produce and-or imprisonment to a term not exceeding three months. This important legislative measure, which was enacted on 28 October 2011, closed a loophole in earlier legislation where a person who was convicted of a road traffic offence could avoid having it recorded on his or her licence and, therefore, avoid penalty points by simply failing to bring his or her licence to court. Without the licence, the awarding of penalty points cannot be recorded on the National Vehicle and Driver File, NVDF. There were even outrageous suggestions that people were advised sometimes not to bring their licence to court in order that points could not be applied.

In April 2012, Evening Herald investigative journalist, Niall O'Connor estimated that 85,000 motorists had managed to avoid penalty points by arriving in court without their licence. This was a particularly unacceptable situation for repeat offenders who may have been getting away without any penalty for numerous speeding offences and who subsequently may have ended up in a serious crash. It has also been noted that the relatively low number of drivers on 12 points - 133 drivers on 31 March 2012 - could be influenced by the fact that there is a high level of avoidance of points through the non-production of a licence.

Since the enactment of section 63 in 2011, PARC, the national road safety campaign group outstandingly led by Ms Susan Grey and Ms Ann Fogarty, has battled to have it implemented across the courts system. They have attended District Court hearings around the country. In a report they made to me and to the Ministers for Justice and Equality and Transport, Tourism and Sport on the matter, they state, "We found a vast difference in procedures in some courts with little consistency". The application of penalty points seems to be a geographically lottery. For example, in Donegal, Galway and Cork District Courts, many drivers who were summonsed on road traffic penalty point offences, including speeding, were convicted but none was asked to present his or her licence or a photocopy of the licence to be passed on to the NVDF. PARC representatives attended Cork District Court earlier this month and said that, "no drivers (were) asked to hand up their licence in court although many were convicted on penalty point offences". There seemed to be no procedure in the court for taking licence details or sending information to the NVDF. Similarly, during sittings of the Donegal and Galway District Courts, the same thing appeared to be happening.

In contrast, at sittings of Dublin District Court in 2011 and 2012, drivers were requested to bring up their licence and a copy at beginning of court and, on conviction, the clerk took the licence details and returned it to the driver. Similarly, at a number of Dún Laoighaire Court sittings, which were witnessed, all drivers were requested at the beginning of the court day to hand up their licence and, on conviction, the court clerk took all licence details manually. There is a huge discrepancy in this regard and it is disappointing that this difficulty continues, even though from 16 May 2012 last, all summonses were amended to inform drivers that they must produce their licences in court. I understand that, subsequently, courts put up notices to this effect about section 63 but, as campaigners note, this will make little difference if drivers are not being made to produce their licences and are not aware of the related fines for failure to do so.

The Courts Service staff are under extraordinary pressure due to the economic policies of the Government but this is a key area, given the significant increase in road fatalities over the past two months. Unfortunately, we are heading back to the higher figures we had in earlier years. The licence issue seems to be geographical lottery. It is unfair, for example, that professional drivers, who may have acquired 12 points in the greater Dublin region, are put off the road and I am sure the Minister of State and other Members have had representations about what they would do for a living. However, there is a different standard in other parts of the country. District Courts should obey the law.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. As the Deputy will be aware, legislation in this area is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 provides that it is an offence not to produce a driving licence or permit and a copy of the licence or permit to the court when appearing to answer an accusation or a charge of commission of specified offences under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 2010. The Deputy will also appreciate that the courts are, subject to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and the conduct of any court case is a matter for the presiding judge.

Since May 2012, the Courts Service has put in place arrangements to ensure the summonses issued include wording to advise persons charged with an offence under the Road Traffic Acts to bring their driving licence together with a photocopy of the licence when they are attending court. The Minister is informed that the service has communicated with the Judiciary to facilitate an arrangement whereby defendants who appear before the court are requested in court to produce their driving licence and a copy thereof to the court registrar for the purpose of having the driving licence number recorded. In addition, registrars have been requested to record irrespective of whether the licence or a copy thereof was produced to the court. Where the driving licence number is recorded and on conviction, the details are provided to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The Courts Service has advised the Minister that the revised summonses issued from May 2012 began appearing in court lists in September 2012 and initial statistics show a small increase in the number of driving licence numbers collected since the new procedures were introduced. However, the service also informed the Minister that it is too early to draw definitive conclusions as the systems put in place require further time to become fully effective.

In relation to cases where the driving licence number has not been produced, the service has indicated it is continuing to evaluate the systems in place to ensure they are fully functional to provide the Garda Síochána, in due course, with the necessary information to initiate prosecutions. The service has informed the Minister that work is ongoing in this area and it has undertaken to provide a further update on the arrangements by the end of July 2013. The Minister will consider the matter further when he receives this report. He hopes the Deputy will appreciate that the every effort is being made by the Courts Service, as is proper, and in so far as is possible within its remit, to ensure the robustness of the systems in place to ensure compliance with the provisions of section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Minister appreciates his interest in the administration of the courts.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to contact me with information on how many penalty points have not been recorded on the national vehicle driver file as a result of the non-production of a driving licence, which is a scandal that has been ongoing for some time. In September last, the Minister informed me he would have a report on the implementation of section 63 Road Traffic Act 2010 by the end of November 2012. He subsequently stated the report would not be available until July 2013. What is the reason for this delay? Why can the information not be provided as soon as possible?

Has the Department of Justice and Equality made an effort to observe court proceedings, as the PARC group has done? PARC, a group of citizens who are making a social contribution by doing this work, sent a detailed submission on this matter to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, a few days ago and is seeking a prompt reply.

Similar problems to those I have described arise when drivers are disqualified in court for serious or repeat driving offences. In such circumstances, the driver sends his or her licence to the local motor tax office. Surely it would be better to produce the licence again in court?

The failure to implement section 63 is a huge waste of Garda resources. Gardaí do excellent work in bringing to court drivers who commit road traffic offences. While sanctions are applied, the courts system has let us down. Surely there is a case to answer in this regard in light of current controversies surrounding the operation of the Garda Síochána?

On the issue of insurance, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has indicated he will make the database containing information on penalty points available to insurance companies. Is this proposal not highly unfair, especially to drivers in regions where penalty points have been implemented given that it appears that drivers in some areas did not receive penalty points despite having committed offences? The Minister must examine this aspect of his proposal as it is grossly unfair.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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As I indicated, the report to which the Deputy refers, or at least the relevant statistics, will be available in July 2013. The difficulty is that the procedures have not been in place for long enough to allow the data to be collated and properly presented. We all agree that the law and requirements should be applied uniformly across the State.

With regard to the Minister's role, the Deputy will acknowledge that he is doing everything in his power. He has emphasised to the Courts Service that a legal requirement is in place and should be enforced. However, the courts are subject only to the Constitution and law. The Minister does not have a supervisory role over the courts in the way that has been suggested and it is not open to him to supervise them in the way other people may monitor or keep on eye on them. He will, however, prepare the information in question and make it available in July. We must all accept that the system is still bedding down. The Deputy's view that there should be uniform and proper application of procedures and the law is shared by the Minister.