Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 14, lines 35 to 37, to delete all words from and including “regardless” in line 35 down to and including line 37 and substitute the following: “subject to the outcome of any criminal proceedings in respect of the serious infringement concerned. Where a Master or Owner is found not guilty in such criminal proceedings, then the Authority shall take such steps to remove any record of the assignment of penalty points as if they had never been assigned in the first place. This shall include notifying the licensing authority to ensure the points are removed from the capacity.”.

This amendment goes back to what we said earlier about the ability of someone to clear his or her name. It is down to due process. The amendment seeks to change the Bill such that, even in the event of a successful appeal against a conviction on the balance of probability, the points remain on the licence and, in effect, the conviction remains. I am still calling, even at this late stage, on the Minister to pause this scheme, revisit it and make it fair and lawful. I cannot fathom why the Government is standing over a section that provides that even if an individual is found innocent of an alleged breach in court, the penalty points applied under this legislation would not be deleted. We see this as a matter of due process and urge the Minister to reconsider our concerns about this.