Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 500: To ask the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the procedures which are in place to remove penalty points from a driver's licence when it is found that the driver had been wrongly awarded such points; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14819/06]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 503: To ask the Minister for Transport the mechanism which it is proposed to put in place to ensure that penalty points incorrectly awarded, such as those where the relevant by-laws were not in place, can be removed from a person's licence. [14855/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 500 and 503 together.

The recording of penalty point offences on a driving licence record follows notification from the Garda Síochána that a person has paid a fixed charge in respect of an alleged offence that attracts penalty points or notification from the court service that a person is convicted of an offence that attracts penalty points.

The penalty point system only allows for the removal of penalty points following a successful late appeal against a conviction for a penalty point offence. However, where penalty points were applied as a result of an administrative error and through no fault of the individual concerned, advice on the removal of penalty points was sought from the office of the Attorney General, who advised that the State should take proactive steps to deal with any error that has occurred, including the repayment of fines and the expunging of penalty points.

Accordingly, a protocol for amending penalty point records has been put in place with the agreement of the Attorney General's office. This stipulates that any request for amendment must be certified by a Garda chief superintendent or the director of the District and Circuit Courts and be countersigned by an official of my Department of at least assistant principal rank.