Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 170: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which it is envisaged that the fixed charge processing system would operate and the way in which it can contribute to reducing the number of court appearances for gardaí. [4830/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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As recently announced by the Minister for Transport, an additional 31 fixed charge-penalty points offences will be introduced from April next. Most of the penalty point offences to be commenced are currently dealt with by means of summons to the courts. From April, only those offences where payment of the fine is not made will lead to court proceedings, thus reducing the number of court appearances for gardaí.

The introduction of the Garda fixed charge processing system, together with the setting up of the Garda national processing office, NPO, also reduces the administrative involvement of the detecting garda. Once the alleged offence details are captured at the roadside, processing is automated and-or centralised in the NPO, thus freeing up the detecting garda for operational duties. The further involvement of the garda detecting the offence is limited to those fixed charge notices that are not paid within the requisite timeframe and accordingly become the subject of court proceedings.