Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleague Senator Burke, I support Senator O'Sullivan's proposal to have a discussion on NGOs. It would be a very worthwhile and very interesting discussion and I would certainly welcome it.

This morning I will discuss penalty points. Penalty points are designed to encourage safe driving and to reduce casualties on our roads. If a person drives over the speed limit, he or she gets three penalty points and an initial fixed-charge fine of €160. Most drivers, as we know, are careful and responsible on the roads but might occasionally be caught driving over the speed limit, for example doing 54 km/h or 55 km/h in a 50 km zone. Such drivers are clearly over the speed limit - there is no issue with that - and therefore are rightly liable to pay the penalty. However, questions arise sometimes when a careless and reckless driver who drives at 90 km/h in the same zone receives the same number of penalty points. There is clearly an absence of fairness in that respect. I did a bit of research on the approach taken to this matter in a number of jurisdictions. California has introduced what it calls a tiered approach. There are actually four main headings for speeding. The first tier is those driving between 1 and 15 miles per hour - as it is over there - over the limit. The second tier is anybody driving between 16 and 25 miles per hour over the limit, the third is between 26 and 100 miles per hour over the limit, and the fourth is anybody driving over 100 miles per hour. The rise in penalty depends on the level of speed. If the driver's speeding falls into a certain category, he or she gets a certain fine. Such a system has merit and deserves to be explored. I propose that the Leader should ask the Minister for Transport to come before the House to have a discussion on this. I feel such a system would impose greater penalties on the greater offence which would surely be worth considering in the interest of fairness.