Dáil debates

Thursday, 22 October 2015

Topical Issue Debate

Road Traffic Offences

5:15 pm

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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At the end of August of this year, working in collaboration with Ms Susan Gray and the PARC road safety group, I received a reply from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to my Parliamentary Question No. 511 of 14 July. The reply detailed by district court the number of persons listed and convicted and licence numbers recorded for drink driving offences between January 2013 and May 2015. Ms Susan Gray and PARC have done and, indeed, continue to do Trojan work in the area of road safety, highlighting loopholes in our legislation and the failure to implement our traffic laws. It was through representations by PARC and its analysis of the figures that we uncovered the shocking level of drink driving prosecutions not resulting in convictions as highlighted by The Irish Timesthis week. Of the 20,000 plus cases listed between January 2013 and May 2015, just 8,391, or 40%, received a conviction while a minuscule 1,647, or 20%, had their licence details recorded in court. County Offaly had the highest rate of convictions at 68%, County Kerry had the lowest at 29% and 21 out of the 26 counties had lower than 50% conviction rates. These figures are unacceptable and compare very badly with our UK and other EU neighbours. The UK has a 97% conviction rate for drink driving prosecutions.

The response of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to the media in light of these worrying figures was that his Department's officials had begun work on consolidating our comprehensive Road Traffic Acts. I remember asking the Minister about this previously and he told me in reply to Parliamentary Question No. 611 on the 24 January:

As I indicated to the House in December last, I propose to begin the process of consolidating road traffic legislation this year. A considerable amount of work is involved in this exercise involving as it does the examination and review of all primary and secondary legislation going back to 1961.

He re-iterated that the work would commence this year, but we are still waiting. This type of behaviour by the Government in kicking the can down the road has become commonplace in a range of policy areas including housing, health care, Irish Water and, now, the safety of road users in Ireland. Yet another example of this was the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and, specifically, its Minister misleading the Dáil on the issue of breathalyzer test reports being produced and presented in both English and Irish. A month ago, Mr. Justice Seamus Noonan ruled in the High Court ruled that these reports must be provided in both languages. On 24 March of this year, however, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, in response to concerns of PARC and myself, reassured me in a reply to Parliamentary Question No. 984 on this very issue. I had asked him to amend Statutory Instrument No. 541 of the Road Traffic Act 2011 to close any possible loophole. He said, "I am satisfied following consultation with the Garda that there is no requirement to change the Road Traffic Act 2010 to make amendments of the kind suggested by the Deputy". Yet, six months after this statement, a High Court judge disagreed with his interpretation of the law. It is unfortunate that the Minister is not here to take part in this debate. It is clear he misled the Dáil. The Acting Chairman is a senior parliamentarian and will agree that he should come to the House and correct the record. He misled the Dáil.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Bernard Durkan):

I am loath to interrupt, but the Deputy cannot accuse someone of misleading the Dáil. It is a serious allegation. I ask the Deputy to withdraw it.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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He misled a Member of Dáil Éireann in this regard.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy must withdraw the remark.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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He gave wrong information to Dáil Éireann on this very serious matter in relation to drink driving. Today, The Irish Timescovered another shocking story and reported that between January 2013 and March 2015 521 drivers were already disqualified at the time of conviction for involvement in a collision causing serious injury or death. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, could not tell us how many of these drivers were actually disqualified when these serious crashes took place. Figures released to me by the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, show that 17,481 drivers were disqualified for road traffic offences in the same timeframe. However, on 9 April this year, the RSA reported to me that it had informed the Garda of just 48 disqualifications. These are also very serious figures.

We have heard from sources in the Courts Service that it considers that there is no requirement in law to record the licence when a driver is disqualified in court. While the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, has been thrown in at the deep end by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, I ask him to confirm if it is the case that there is no requirement in legislation for the Courts Service to record the licence of a disqualified driver. That will be a key aspect of the Minister of State's reply.

A key aspect of this issue is the cut in personnel and resources of An Garda Síochána carried out by this and the previous Government in the austerity years since the great recession. There has especially been a cut in the traffic corps. The figures released also put the spotlight on the Courts Service, the performance of some district judges and the seemingly Flann O'Brien or Kafkaesque atmosphere of some District Courts. It is time for accountability and for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come to the House to clarify two important points of law which I put to him this afternoon. I put them to the Minister of State now albeit I know he is not briefed to reply. I ask that the Minister, Deputy Donoghoe, come in at the earliest opportunity. The Acting Chairman was making these very points today and is the very man to ask the Minister to come to the House and correct the record.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Where do I start? About 20 topical issues were raised there. I understand that most of them are very topical and we will certainly get the Deputy answers to them. I will not be able to give him the answers as most of them are above my pay grade. I will get the Deputy the answers he requires to some of the questions he has.

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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Get me the Minister. I want the Minister.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am here to respond to the issue the Deputy raised which was the urgent need for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to bring forward consolidated road traffic legislation before the end of the Government's term given the recent revelations. That is the issue the Deputy raised and that is the issue I am responding to. I apologise on behalf of the Minister who could not make it here this evening. The Deputy knows that the nature of his office means it is not always possible to change his diary and attend here. I have no doubt that he would like to be here. I record that it is not in the nature of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to mislead the Dáil. I have no doubt that he will address the issue the Deputy raised there because it is not in his nature. The Deputy knows the man well and that it is not something he does. The Deputy will be willing to admit that.

We are currently working on a road traffic Bill 2015 with the intention of enacting it before the end of the year. It is being drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel at present. This is the current priority in road traffic legislation and will be dealt with before consolidation can begin. The principal focus of the Bill is on measures to address driving under the influence of drugs. The new provisions will enable gardaí to conduct roadside tests for the presence of drugs, make the presence of certain specified drugs while driving an offence, and provide for tougher penalties for those driving under the influence of multiple drugs, or drugs in combination with alcohol. The Bill will also include measures to ensure mutual recognition of driver disqualifications between Ireland and the UK and create an option for road authorities to introduce a 20 km/h speed limit in built-up areas. After the passage of the 2015 Bill, the Department will begin examining the process of consolidation, which is the issue the Deputy has raised. This will, as a first step, involve a scoping exercise to estimate what is necessary, how much time will be required, and what resources will need to be allocated to the project.

Road traffic legislation in Ireland is based on the Road Traffic Act 1961. This has been amended numerous times. There have been 15 Road Traffic Acts since that of 1961. There have also been other Acts which have made material changes to road traffic law including the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act 1975, the Dublin Transport Authority (Dissolution) Act 1987, the Taxi Regulation Act 2003, the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, and the Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Act 2012. There has been widespread agreement for some time that the legislation in this area has become extremely complex and is in need of consolidation. That is exactly what the Deputy is raising tonight and we all agree with him. Certainly, the Department agrees. We are committed as a Government to doing this. However, this is not a short-term project. It cannot be completed in a couple of months. As someone who was involved in the Companies Act consolidation process, I note that it is a lengthy process if it is to be done right. Consolidation will require more than passage of the legislation as it currently stands in a single Act. It will entail careful review of the legislation being consolidated in order to identify points where it can be clarified, simplified and improved. Consolidation will lead to much stronger legislation.

A project of this kind will require time and resources, and will take a number of years. This, for example, has been the case with the Companies Acts and the Finance Acts previously.

None the less, as these precedents have shown and as I can attest to, having been a part of that process, it is worth doing. It is worth taking the time to get it right as such a consolidation can be expected to be the basis of road traffic law for many decades to come.

While consolidation will be a major step forward, we need to be realistic and remember that it will not solve every problem. Road traffic legislation is perhaps the most frequently contested legislation in the land and is likely to remain so. This is only right as people are entitled to challenge the law in the courts and it is the proper constitutional role of the courts to interpret legislation. We should be aware that consolidation, while it should simplify and improve matters, will not bring an end to this process. However, it will help outcomes.

5:25 pm

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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To date this year, 127 people have lost their lives on the roads and many hundreds more families have been traumatised by serious injuries. When I was transport spokesperson, it was calculated that each fatality cost our nation €2 million plus. It is a costly and terrible situation in terms of the personal pain of those individuals and families. Therefore, why does the Government not get the requisite number of young barristers and solicitors working on this issue and introduce a consolidated Bill? The Minister of State could at least give a commitment to the effect that this would be a priority given the large death toll. If a single incident caused 127 deaths or the almost 200 deaths last year, the House would launch major commissions of investigation that would last for months.

Will the Minister of State have the Minister clarify the two points of law I have raised concerning drink-driving printouts and disqualified drivers? Will he confirm that these are not included in the legislation? The Minister of State referred to the 2015 Bill on the legislative programme. It relates to drug driving and the mutual recognition of driving disqualifications between Ireland and the UK. Would it not be possible to address in that Bill the two matters I raised as well as issues such as the non-presentation of licences in court and references by judges to court poor boxes despite senior judges' assertions that the latter is incorrect in law?

What of addressing the registering of a summons in order that people cannot claim they did not receive summonses? We are living in the e-mail era and have passed beyond the pony and trap and bicycle for mail deliveries. Why can we not have summonses when we all know they are actually being received by the intended persons? Will the Government address the fixed charge processing system? The working group recommended that if someone could not pay after the 56-day period, he or she would get a third payment option and not have to waste the court's time. Could these issues be addressed in the forthcoming legislation?

Some 77% of drivers summonsed for penalty point offences between 2013 and early summer 2015 were not convicted. Of those convicted, 72% did not present their licences. Some 60% of drunk drivers were not convicted. Of those convicted, 80% did not have their licence numbers recorded. Some 71% of drivers using mobile telephones were not convicted while, of those convicted, 41% did not have their licence numbers recorded. Some 96% of drivers disqualified in court did not surrender their licences and 89% of those convicted did not present their licences. The court poor box is still being used despite a High Court ruling.

As someone who has served with distinction for decades in the House, the Acting Chairman will agree that road traffic law is in crisis. Given the horrendous deaths and casualties on our roads, we need to grasp this matter, deal with it effectively and change a culture that still permits many of our fellow citizens to die on the roads needlessly.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Broughan that this is a cultural issue. All the changes in the world to road traffic law will not be enough to stop every tragic death. Even one road death is one too many. Thankfully, there has been considerable improvement in road safety and the numbers killed in the past ten or 15 years. This has been due to successive Governments.

This is a cross-party issue that we all buy into and there is no problem in this regard. I assure the Deputy that tackling it is a priority for the Government. The consolidation process will form part of that work. The Deputy is right that we should try to fast-track it and learn from other consolidation processes. For example, I was involved in the company law consolidation process which we were able to move along more quickly in some cases than we anticipated. We should do that in this case. Extra resources were found in terms of man hours for that work. Likewise, the same should be done in this regard.

There will be a drive to make this happen. It makes it easier for the interpreters of legislation and will undoubtedly lead to better outcomes if the law is consolidated. Road safety and deaths on our roads from accidents or, as I call them, incidents-----

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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Crashes.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Most incidents on the road are avoidable, so they are not accidents. It is a cultural issue that goes way beyond transport, law or the Department of Justice and Equality. It stretches into education and awareness of the problem. Most people try the lottery every now and again because they believe they can win. They see the ads that say, "It could be you." They roll the dice and try, but they never consider the negatives. Most people assume they will never be in road traffic incidents, yet the chances of it are much higher than of them winning the lottery. There is something wrong with people's mindsets. It is in all of us. We have an attitudinal issue towards road safety. This is an issue that must be driven by every Department. I am in the Department of Education and Skills which has a major role to play in this regard.

Incidents and accidents can happen to anyone. It is in everyone's gift to prevent them on our roads. Legislation is a part of that work. I will bring the Deputy's questions that I could not answer to the relevant Ministers and reply to him with detailed answers.

The Dáil adjourned at at 5.35 p.m. until 10 a.m. on Friday, 23 October 2015.