Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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137. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to comment on the recent decision by a District Court judge to refuse to hear any motorist prosecution cases involving GoSafe speed detection vans as he stated it was a waste of time to try to prosecute motorists because of the poor system of delivering notices to people through the post. [18112/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, judges are independent in matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. The conduct of and decision reached in any court case is a matter entirely for the presiding judge. Therefore, I cannot comment or intervene in any way on the conduct or decision of any individual case which is a matter entirely for the presiding judge.

I am aware of the recent decision referred to by the Deputy in his question. Inherent challenges will always exist in a system with a scope similar to the Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS), however the high payment rate on receipt of Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs), which I am informed stands at around 70%, must be similarly acknowledged. At the same time, because of the reach of the FCPS, it is important to ensure that there are no loopholes that can be availed of and it is also vitally important that the operation of the FCPS has the confidence of the judiciary that interact with the system.

While the majority of FCNs are paid, consideration has been given to those who, for whatever reason, do not pay within the 56-day period, but do not wish to have their case proceed to Court. Arrangements for the commencement of Section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010, which provides for the Third Payment Option, are underway in both my Department and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. This section, once commenced, will provide a person who is served with a summons in respect of a fixed charge offence, the opportunity to pay a fixed charge, not later than 7 days before the date of the Court on which the charge is to be heard, and a FCN is included with the summons to this effect. If a person takes up the third payment option, proceedings in respect of the alleged offence will be discontinued and the person need not attend court. It is envisaged that this Third Payment Option will be implemented by the third quarter of 2017.

My Department jointly chairs the multi-agency Criminal Justice (FCPS) Working Group with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Working Group is charged with overseeing and facilitating the recommendations of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate's report on ‘The Fixed Charge Processing System – A 21st Century Strategy’ (February 2014). Some 22 of the 37 recommendations have been fully implemented to date, with 5 additional recommendations on track for delivery by Summer 2017. Work on the remaining recommendations is ongoing and the majority of these recommendations are medium-long-term in nature. The Working Group is scheduled to meet again later this month and I can assure the Deputy that the matters raised in relation to the issuing of FCNs will receive attention at this forthcoming meeting.