Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We looked into that. I believe that came from the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, which pointed out that 37% of penalty points could not be matched to a particular driver licence number. That has come about because over the years when it has been impossible to match penalty points to a licence for some reason, they stay there and do not get counted down after three years. It is not that 37% every year are unmatched; it is that because they are never matched they are never counted down. Some of these could be penalty points imposed on a driver ten, nine, six or four years ago but they still accumulate.

That is something we must deal with because that number will increase every year as they continue to accumulate.

The figures we have indicate that approximately 12.5% of events in any one year cannot be matched. The figure is 12.5% because 75% of the 12.5% are foreign drivers. Although we can record those penalty points we cannot impose them on a foreign licence. We record them because if a driver hits 12 points we can disqualify him under a different law. That is why they are recorded.

The other 25% of the 12.5% figure appears to be people who do not turn up in court. There is an issue in this regard of which people should be aware. People are required to bring their licence and a copy of their licence when they go to court. We are working hard with the Courts Service to ensure this is enforced and to ensure people get the penalty points and do not manage to escape because they did not turn up in court or because they were not recorded by the Courts Service for some reason.