Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, to delete lines 12 to 15 and substitute the following:

“(2) This Act will be commenced within 28 days of being signed by the President of Ireland.”.

I welcome the Minister back to the House. In terms of the Ireland-UK agreement signed by Ambassador Chilcott and the Minister's wish to restrict drug driving and local speed limits, I believe the Minister has the support of everybody in the House. That is the spirit in which the amendments before us, if they are of use to the Minister, are offered, particularly at this stage of the political cycle. If we were starting on day one as a new Senator and a new Minister, we could go through some of the issues here. However, they are important and Parliament should discuss them.

Taking amendments Nos. 1 and 11 together, it is noted from the explanatory memorandum that we have developed a tradition of not commencing sections of road safety legislation. As I said in the previous debate, Ministers and their Departments bring forward legislation, which is passed by the Dáil and the Seanad and signed by the President. However, the explanatory memorandum states that sections 34 to 37, inclusive, 42 and 50 of the 2010 Bill were not commenced. PARC, the road safety body whose representatives the Minister met regarding their concerns about this, would add section 44 to that list. In fact, they regard section 44 as a way of evading payment. It has referred to commencement of the third payment option - section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 - to stop drivers avoiding conviction and penalty points by claiming in court that they did not receive the fixed charge notice. This is now of epidemic proportions and must be stopped.I asked a legal friend about this and he said the worst case of failure to commence was the Child Care Act 1991, which was eventually repealed before it could be commenced. In Australia, there is a rule that a law comes into operation on the 28th day after the Governor General has approved it. Perhaps we should have discussed the issue of how legislation disappears on Second Stage.

Amendment No. 1 proposes that this legislation will not be delayed. Amendment No. 11 proposes that the parts that have been delayed, plus section 44, as proposed by PARC, be commenced. Perhaps, given that PARC has made representations on this matter, the Minister will give consideration to it prior to Report Stage. This is an urgent problem. As the Minister said on Second Stage, 13 people were killed on Irish roads between 21 and 31 December 2015. We cannot let this go. For whatever reason, the legislation was not commenced. It is in that spirit I propose these two amendments.