Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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225. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on whether penalty points should be introduced for driving with bald effective illegal tyres it is already an offence and is it the number one fail item in the National Car Test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28139/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am considering extending the list of road traffic offences to which fixed charge notices and penalty points apply.  My Department will shortly convene a meeting with a group of relevant stakeholders, such as the Gardaí and the RSA, to discuss, and recommend to me, the offences that might appropriately be added to the fixed charge/penalty points system.

Legal provision already exist, under Section 54 (d) of the Road Traffic Act 2010, for making the use of a vehicle with defective or worn tyres a penalty points offence with 2 points awarded on the payment of a fixed charge and 4 points on conviction in Court.  I will consider commencing this section of the Act when I have heard from the group.

Regulation 16 of the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 1963 (S.I. No.  190 of 1963), as amended, sets out the legislative requirements for tyres on mechanically propelled vehicles and it is an offence under the Road Traffic Acts to use a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place which does not comply with those requirements.