Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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500. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality , further to Parliamentary Question No. 145 on 18 November 2020, the number of learner drivers in 2019 and up to 31 October 2020 who failed to pay the fixed charge notice or FCN issued for driving unaccompanied by a qualified driver, under the Clancy amendment; the number who were summoned to court per year for failure to pay; the number convicted; the fines imposed per year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41289/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, also known as the Clancy Amendment, seeks to penalise car owners who knowingly allow their vehicles to be used by an unaccompanied learner driver. The law allows the owners of these vehicles to be fined and gives Gardaí the power to seize their cars if being driven by unaccompanied drivers.  

The following table, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, shows the number of Fixed Charge Notices, issued for Learner Drivers unaccompanied by a qualified driver was as follows: 

The following table, provided to me by the Courts Service, outlines the number of learner drivers unaccompanied by a qualified driver, who were summoned to court for failure to pay, the number convicted and the fines imposed for the period in question.

Please note that the Courts Service can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.

It is also worth noting that the number of fines imposed is per offence and not persons.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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501. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality , further to Parliamentary Question No. 167 of 17 September 2020, if the information requested by her from An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service on the number of drivers detected driving without a licence in 2018, 2019 and up to 31 July 2020 has been received; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41290/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that road traffic legislation falls within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Transport.

I am informed by An Garda Síochána that section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended by section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2006, creates the offence of ‘Driving without a Driving Licence’. The penalty for this offence is, upon summary conviction, a fine not exceeding €1,000, and in any other case, a fine not exceeding €2,000.

I am further informed that section 38 (5) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended by Section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2006, provides an increased penalty in respect of a person who is summarily convicted of the offence of Driving without a Driving Licence and was, at the time he or she committed the offence, disqualified for holding a driving licence, namely a fine not exceeding €5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

The following table, provided by An Garda Síochána, shows the number of proceedings taken in relation to Driving without a driving licence 2018-2020. 2020 figures are for the period from January – July 2020.

* All figures provided are provisional, operational and subject to change.

Please note that we have been advised by An Garda Síochána that these statistics are not compiled in such a way as to identify specific number of arrests for driving while disqualified under section 6(b) and (c) of the Road Traffic Act, as this would necessitate an extensive manual trawl of all relevant incidents recorded on PULSE to collate same, which would require a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources.

Further to the statistics provided by An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service have provided the below tables. Please note that the Court Service have advised that they can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.

Please note that a person may have received more than one order and will appear on the above report twice and an offence may have more than one penalty imposed and as such will also appear twice on the report.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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502. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality , further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 168, 172 and 173 of 17 September 2020, if she has received the report requested from An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41291/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I refer to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 168, 172 and 173, which were for answer on 17 September 2020, where the Deputy asked:

- If An Garda Síochána is capturing driver licence numbers at point of detection and recording the driver number on summonses; if the Courts Service is accepting this data and inputting the information on the disqualification orders for recording onto the national vehicle and driver file database.

- If the Courts Service is still using a manual form of sending details of drivers disqualified in court in batches of 1,600 at the end of each month to the RSA for later input onto the national driver file database (the database that Gardaí at the roadside rely on for the latest, most up to date driver information to identify, on the spot, those driving while disqualified); and,

- If I will report on plans by the Courts Service to automate its system of recording drivers disqualified in court and forwarding the data electronically to the national vehicle and driver file.

As you know, I sought clarification from your office in relation to Question No. 168 and you have confirmed you were referring to the licence number. At the outset please allow me to apologise for the delay in responding to your questions.

As you are aware, the Commissioner is responsible for the direction and control of An Garda Síochána. The Garda Commissioner is also responsible for the day to day management of An Garda Síochána which includes operational/road traffic matters.

I have been informed by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána have the facility to perform driver look-ups when engaging with motorists, when they are using the Mobility Data Stations.

This aids in the capture of the driver licence number at point of detection and using the Fixed Charge Notice (FCN) App allows this number, once captured, to follow the offence until completed, either by payment of fine or completion in Courts.

As you are aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system.

However, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that a project is underway to provide for electronic transfer of disqualification orders to the relevant agency once the time period to lodge an appeal has passed, and no appeal has been lodged. I am further informed that this project is being progressed under the oversight of the Circuit and District Courts Operations Directorate. 

I understand that this project is being pursued by the Courts Service independently of the work ongoing in An Garda Síochána to progress the mobility project.

I am further advised that manual notices continue to be sent to the Road Safety Authority with details of drivers disqualified. However, the Courts Service has been ready to automate the electronic transfer to disqualification to the National Driver Licence Service and the Road Safety Authority since the end of 2019 and are awaiting confirmation from the Department of Transport that they are able to receive the data in this format.

Finally, I am informed that, since 1 May 2020, the Courts Service has been sending the manual Court Notices relating to disqualifications to the Road Safety Authority on a weekly basis as opposed to monthly.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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503. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality , further to Parliamentary Question No.171 of 17 September 2020, if she has received the report requested by An Garda Síochána on the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41292/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I refer to your Parliamentary Question No. 171, which was for answer on the 17 September 2020, where you asked if the new Garda mobility device records and stores information on the number of disqualified drivers detected at roadside checks and if An Garda Síochána is keeping records of the number detected driving while disqualified for operational and statistical reasons.  At the outset please allow me to apologise for the delay in responding to you.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the mobile data station is a key tool used by frontline Gardaí in detecting motoring offences, allowing them to access real time information on drivers and vehicles, and most recently to electronically initiate fixed charge penalty notices.

It is part of an overall programme of digitalising policing where Garda tradecraft and experience are being increasingly complemented by device-based access to data. It is important to emphasise that it is the Garda rather than the device that makes the detection. Equally, it should be noted that there is not necessarily a correlation between a look-up on a device and a subsequent detection.

It is important to note that the device does not retain incident data locally for security reasons and it is not possible to definitively answer the question as to the exact number of detections of driving while disqualified made using a mobile data station because PULSE does not differentiate between these instances and detections made by other means.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that statistics are not compiled in such a way as to identify specific numbers of detections or arrests for driving while disqualified (additional powers were provided to An Garda Síochána, allowing the arrest of people who drive while disqualified under section 6(b) and (c) of the Road Traffic Act 2014), as this would necessitate a manual trawl of all relevant incidents recorded on PULSE to collate same, which would require a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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504. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality , further to Parliamentary Question No. 145 of 18 November 2020, the number of registered vehicle owners penalised by the court per year for allowing their vehicle to be driven by an unaccompanied learner driver under the Clancy amendment (details supplied); if she is now in a position to answer my question; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41293/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, also known as the Clancy Amendment, seeks to penalise car owners who knowingly allow their vehicles to be used by an unaccompanied learner driver. The law allows the owners of these vehicles to be fined and gives Gardaí the power to seize their cars if being driven by unaccompanied drivers.  

The following table, furnished to me by the Courts Service, shows the number of registered vehicle owners penalised by the court per year for allowing their vehicle to be driven by an unaccompanied learner driver.

Please note that any offence listed as "Strike out not served" is not included on the report.

Please also note that the Courts can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors can also use uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.