Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a fundamental point here. I do not want to get into it, because I know we are all keen to move forward, but there is a fundamental point and it came up in the previous section. It is very unusual that we would look at fixed payment notices without an appropriate appeal mechanism and so forth. There are many other areas where fixed payments are due. The reason that there are so many of these amendments is that we are looking at a situation whereby somebody is effectively being charged, judged and paying the penalty all in the same moment, as it were, because it is a fixed payment notice.That is why there are these complications. Normally one would not have to go through the whole process there and then, but if we do not have an appeals mechanism which is something we need to examine overall in respect of fixed payments, it all has to be done there and then. If there was an appeals mechanism, a fixed payment notice could be issued and the mechanism would be available to the person in the rare cases where it was contested. They should be able to contest it and ask about evidence, etc. Some of these issues arise from that core aspect of the Bill.