Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have no wish to hold up this legislation. I am merely making the point that as a result of the third payment option, as Senator Mulherin already stated, people who do not receive the initial fixed penalty notice will pay the 100% surcharge to avoid going to court. I do not think this is acceptable. This is a technical Bill and I will not hold it up, but if we want transparency and accountability the only way to prove delivery is to register the post. If somebody does not accept a registered letter the person delivering it knows he or she called to that address and nobody accepted the letter. At present, thousands of people who never received a fixed penalty notice appear in court on a weekly basis. As the Minister of State said, the legislation states they will be deemed to have received the notice. This is not good enough. I firmly believe the initial legislation is open to a constitutional challenge. We are all concerned about road safety and people speeding and, thankfully, this year there has been a reduction in the number of people killed on our roads. In addition to this, I ask for justice for people who do not receive the initial fixed charge penalty notice and who will now be forced to pay money to avoid going to court. To me this is not acceptable. While I have no difficulty with the Bill and my party supports it, we need to look at it again. That is all I am saying.