Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept what the Minister has said, yet in the figures he quoted, 28% of people did not comply. What proof is there that those 28% received the fixed-charge penalty in the first place? Most people who find themselves before the court do not want to be there in the first place. If they receive a fixed-charge penalty notice and they do not pay it and a summons arrives and there is the option of paying a 100% surcharge on the initial amount, then of course, rather than go to court they will pay it. There is still no proof that they got the initial fixed-charge penalty in the post.

The only way of ensuring, and proving that somebody did initially get the fixed-penalty charge, is by registering the post. If we were to conduct all of our other legal affairs in such a manner, and 28% of people did not turn up in court, it would not be long before there was a change. I am asking the Minister of State if it is not futile to implement this third payment option, because innocent people will pay the 100% additional charge because they do not want to face court when the problem is that they never received it in the first place and there is no proof that they did.