Results 4,081-4,100 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: I move amendment No. 13: In page 7, to delete lines 7 and 8. These are technical amendments arising from the provisions of section 22 of the Interpretation Act 2005 which provides that a power conferred by an enactment to make a statutory instrument includes a power to repeal or amend it.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: As I indicated on Committee Stage, the development of the support system for the penalty points system involved significant and ongoing consultation with all the State agencies involved, including the Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the vehicle registration unit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform....

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: It is fully computerised.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: I understand the questions that have been asked and have put the facts on the record this morning. There is no evidence to suggest that people are not surrendering their licences when they have been issued with 12 penalty points. In fact, the opposite is true.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: I have such evidence to hand and can quote the numbers to Deputy Olivia Mitchell. I can supply her with precise details. I supplied the figures of the total number of people who had already served the disqualification notice, which is 34, but perhaps the Deputy missed them. A total of 13 people are currently disqualified, eight of whom have already surrendered their licences. Another seven...

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: According to the information I have received, they must surrender their licences to the local authority. I am dealing specifically with the penalty point issue. The law in this regard is very robust. It is against the law to drive a vehicle without a driving licence. One can be disqualified for producing a false driving licence as it is against the law to do so. The penalties are severe. From...

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: It arose from the comments made by Deputies Olivia Mitchell and Shortall some weeks ago regarding the notification——

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: The Deputy raised the issue of how the national driver file wrote to individuals to tell them that they had X penalty points or had reached 12 points and were disqualified. The Deputy was correct in identifying that when this happened, notification did not go to the Garda. However, it is now the case that notification is given.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: Yes. The Garda enters it into the PULSE system.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: Perhaps the Deputy should table a question to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. All I can do is tell the Deputy about the arrangement.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: Deputies raised the issue of the smart card driving licence. As far as I am concerned, the sooner we can get it in place, the better. In fairness to previous Ministers who wanted to move on this process, only in recent weeks have we reached agreement at European level to move to a European smart card driving licence. Many of the large countries in Europe were against this proposal because the...

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: The licensing authority in each area.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: Can I reply?

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: I do not disagree with the Deputy. I faced this problem when I was the Minister for the Environment and Local Government but have the opposite problem as the Minister for Transport. The motor taxation system is linked to this matter. It is a part of local government's core funding, which is a difficulty when addressing this issue.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: While that is not unfair to me, it is not a fair reflection on the system. It would be wrong to send the message that the system is a shambles. There is no evidence to suggest such.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: We will judge the situation then.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: This was not for want of trying. In fairness to Deputy Shortall's party leader——

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: Both parties commented on this matter over the weekend.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: The Deputy should not tempt me into stating who was responsible for putting this system in place.

Road Safety Authority Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Martin Cullen: The answer to Deputy Eamon Ryan's last point on the authority's role is "Yes". Moreover, the road safety authority will represent Ireland in Europe and will deal with technical issues. Hence, I will assign the entire gamut and remit to it from an Irish and a European perspective, in order that it will lead the debate in setting standards, both nationally and internationally, and in trying to...