Sean Barrett (Independent)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, line 26, to delete "10" and substitute "2".

I welcome the Minister back to the House. The amendment refers to the interval within which one has to present one's driving licence to the Garda. We discussed the issue briefly on Tuesday with the Minister and he was interested in the proposition. I asked some senior counsel about it and they told me it was custom and practice dating to a time when there were hardly any cars on the road and if somebody crashed in west Cork he or she would have had to make his or her way back via four or five railway companies to Carndonagh, therefore he or she needed time to present a driving licence. I wondered if there was a human rights aspect to the rule and was not able to detect that. The Minister has assistants.

Does the system work? Under the previous system one went to the Garda station of one's choice and I recall the information being written in a large ledger. Does it relate to the original station? The system does not seem to be connected and is certainly not high tech. There should be some way of linking the information to the Garda station conducting the inquiry. One would wonder if such a system obstructs or delays modern policing. Does the delay relate to an era when technology was far less equipped to deal with these matters than it is now?

When plastic driving licences are introduced in a few years' time the logical thing would be for a person to have it with him or her. A vehicle is worth €10,000 or €15,000 and it is not a major requirement that one has one's driving licence with one in order that an investigation can start immediately. My amendment is a proposal for the Minister to consider. My proposed period may be too long. I am open to what the Minister's research has found in the intervening two days. The system dates back to the early days of the State and nobody knows why there was such a large allocation of time. It is not conducive to modern, speedy policing. I await the Minister's answer with interest.