Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The penalty points system is an administrative and not a criminal system. There are appeals systems in place within this new penalty points system. If somebody who has points assigned to them feels that the law has not been properly followed, he or she can appeal that on a point of law to the courts. If the point of law is found in his or her favour, the case falls in that instance if it was not followed properly. What Senator Boylan is suggesting, however, is that where there is a criminal process in parallel to the penalty points process, if there is not a criminal conviction in the courts for that same offence, the penalty points should fall too. That would then mean that the administrative system, the penalty points system, would be completely subject to what would happen in the courts on the criminal side. Effectively, it would mean that no administrative system would be in place. While it is possible to appeal on a point of law something that happens on the administrative side, there is a requirement on us to have the two systems running in parallel. If we were to tie the two together, one would be subjugated by the other. If we were to take that approach, we would not be meeting our obligations as a controlled authority and a State under the Common Fisheries Policy and we would not be meeting our obligations to put in place a penalty points system. The European Commission has taken proceedings against us for being the only remaining EU member state that has not done this, and for being ten years late in doing it. The Commission would have to continue to pursue those proceedings against us in the European courts for being non-compliant. That is the situation that would face us were we to accept Senator Boylan's amendments.