David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I respect what the Senator has said and he is right to bring it up. It is a very important issue. We all acknowledge that An Post has a very good record of delivering mail. If mail is posted it gets delivered and very little of it gets lost. This brings us to two questions, namely, whether it was posted in the first place and whether it was ignored after it arrived. We accept that An Post has a very good record of delivering post, and we know the men and women of the postal service go out of their way and when an address is vague they can still find the person for whom it is intended. I know investigations are ongoing at present into why so many are not received in the first place.

If we have a situation where a letter is registered sometimes the recipient must go to the post office or post depot to collect it and people might decide they know what it is and they will not go. In other cases, somebody else might sign for it and the intended recipients will tell the truth when they state they never received it, that somebody else signed for it and that they did not see it or receive it. We must change this and we are doing so, whereby evidence that a fixed charge notice was not served shall not be a defence to the alleged offence.

Senator Ó Donnghaile is correct that we are focusing on speeding and other offences. An Garda Síochána is considering other options, such as moving to proof of service. The alternative of outsourcing the entire summons service process for fixed charge notices is also being considered. In the interim, the advice is this technical change might make a huge difference and we might not have to go the extra mile with respect to the personal serving of summonses and outsourcing the entire issue. The advice is this should make a massive difference, bearing in mind all the other changes made to bring the Court Service and the Garda together in issuing notices and what has been done in this regard.

I thank Senators for their support on this. I take on board their reservations and suggestions. It is felt the Bill will improve matters considerably. I also take on board the suggestion the legislation needs to be constantly reviewed once it gets through and is passed. We still need to review this and keep on top of it. Perhaps the Oireachtas committees could look for reports on it on a regular basis. It is quite important this would happen to make sure it works. If it does not work it must be revisited in the short term. I am confident it will make a massive difference, but let us wait and see how it works. This is the advice we have. I thank the Senators for their suggestions and constructive criticism of the Bill, which are very important. I will take on board what they have said and it will be taken seriously.