I welcome the Minister and his officials to the House. This is sort of a recurring theme. I recall discussing this with the Minister twice in the House. Basically, to cut to the chase, I propose the introduction of a penalty system for those who park in disability bays. I am conscious the Cathaoirleach is hugely involved in advocacy work for the disability sector. I, too, have and I have been a director of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind for many years. I see this as an ongoing issue across the country.

I am a former councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and this has been actively pursued by it, in addition to a whole load of other measures that would open up our public realm, car parking spaces and public roads for people with disabilities to access around them. It is very important. There are not enough of these designated parking bays at the moment in certain locations. However, that is not what I am dealing with today. It is important that people who have a disability and go through the proper criteria and application for a disability permit to park their car be supported in any way possible.

What are the disability organisations and advocacy groups telling us? They say it is a major problem. They say that they go to places where cars are parked in them. There is an issue of enforcement. The local authorities operate, under by-laws, certain parking regimes, as does An Garda Síochána. I spoke to one garda in the traffic unit about this and the garda told me much of it is a resource issue. Gardaí are under fierce demand, which we can understand. There are other priorities as well, and I respect and understand that.

Everyone knows what a disability bay is. It is about applying the law and respecting the special status and designation of these parking bays. I want - and I know the Minister and everyone in this House does as well – to see people with disabilities integrating fully in their work and their community, be it their parish life or whatever they want to do. These spaces are at a premium and there needs to be penalty.

I just checked something out. The rationale for this Bill is that it will introduce penalty points for people who park in disability parking bays without appropriate permits. At the moment, people who park in a disability bay without the appropriate permit are subject to a fine of €200. This increases to €300 if it is not paid within 28 days. This is covered by regulations that are set out by the Department and, under the by-laws, each local authority has discretion to set times for parking in various different pay-and-display or parking regimes that exist within their local authority area. We need to ensure that the laws are applied consistently and fairly so that people with disabilities do not face extremes or possibilities of difficulty in accessing their parking bays. The introduction of a penalty points scheme would deter people nationwide from parking in disability bays. That is fair.

I will go on and speak on the other amendment so that covers me, instead of getting up and down twice. It is important. Again, the rationale for amendment No. 75 is the same. I understand that parking in disability bays should be a criminal offence and this is what this will do. The Minister told me before that he did not think it was necessary to make this a criminal offence but I believe it is. I want to be clear that I think this is a criminal offence. It might sound a bit punitive, harsh and draconian, but it needs to happen. That is the language I am getting back from people who have disabilities who find it difficult to park. That is the language I am hearing from city and county councillors all around this country. They are saying that this is an issue. As I noted earlier, it is about policing and administering the system. For anyone who has had penalty points, three is one thing, but when one gets another three and it is six, now one is getting a bit exercised about everything. It is right and a strong message. We should clearly send a message of zero tolerance of people who take advantage of disability parking bays and park in them.

The Minister has had time to reflect on this because I have raised it twice with him before. I would like to think we can stand shoulder to shoulder together today in solidarity and send a clear message that this what we believe is the right regime. Disability sectors are asking for this. I was told that this might not be the appropriate legislation. There is clearly a place for this in this legislation. Clearly, we can slot this into the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021 and I would ask for the Minister’s support.