Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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204. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will report on the current loophole in legislation for drivers in court claiming the non-receipt of a fixed charge notice for penalty point offences and subsequently having cases dismissed, which could be remedied by the commencement of section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010; if he will indicate same; the measures that will be put in place in the interim, in view of the fact that section 44 is not due to be commenced until late 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20875/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 deals with the payment of a fixed charge on service of a summons to court.  It is also known as the "3rd payment option" and has not yet been commenced because the administrative structure for dealing with the option is not yet in place.

  A sub-group of the Criminal Justice (Fixed Charge Processing System) Working Group has worked through the operation of the proposed third payment option and identified the broad changes to existing systems and procedures that are necessary as well as developing a business case for the project.  A Memorandum of Understanding between Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Department of Justice and Equality has been agreed with respect to capital funding for the project.  On foot of this, sanction has been received from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to proceed with the project.  A project Steering Group comprising representatives of Department of Justice and Equality, Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, An Garda Síochána, Courts Service has been established to oversee implementation of the project.

  I expect that the legislation will be commenced in mid 2016.