Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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637. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 526 of 8 December 2020, if she received the additional information requested from the Garda Commissioner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7026/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Parliamentary Question No. 526 of 8 December 2020 refers to the number of learner drivers detected driving while unaccompanied under the Clancy Amendment law since 22 December 2018; the number that had their vehicles seized for driving unaccompanied; and the number that were issued with a fixed charge notice for driving unaccompanied.

As you may recall, the information you requested could not be obtained in the time available and I undertook to contact you again when the information was to hand. The requested information has now been provided by An Garda Síochána.

As you will be aware, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, 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.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that since the legislation was introduced on 22 December 2018, there have been 6,294 incidents in which drivers have had their vehicles seized under the Clancy Amendment for driving unaccompanied.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table show the number of Fixed Charge Notices issued in relation to Learner Driver Offences for the years 2016 up to and including 2020.

Figures are based on incidents which occurred from 2016-2020 inclusive. All information contained in this report is based upon operational data from the PULSE and FCPS systems as was available on 28 January 2021 and is provisional, operational and subject to change.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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638. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of unaccompanied learner drivers detected per Garda division and station in 2019 and up to 31 October 2020; the number of learners issued with a fixed charge notice for driving unaccompanied per division and station; the number of vehicles seized from learners each year for driving unaccompanied per Garda division and station; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7027/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, 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.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that 12,443 Fixed Charge Notices have been issued to learner drivers who were unaccompanied by a qualified driver between 22 December 2018 and 13 December 2020 inclusive.

I am further informed that there was 5,734 incidents in which drivers have had their vehicles seized under the Clancy Amendment for driving unaccompanied by a qualified driver between 22 December 2018 and 13 December 2020 inclusive.

All information contained in this report is based upon operational data from the PULSE and FCPS systems as was available on 14 December 2020 and is liable to change.

I have requested further information from the Garda Commissioner in relation to localised data as requested by the Deputy and will write to the Deputy directly with the information requested, when it is available.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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639. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 145 of 18 November 2020 and 500 of 8 December 2020, the number of learner drivers in 2019 and up to 31 October 2020 that did not pay the FCN issued for driving unaccompanied by a qualified driver under the Clancy amendment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7028/21]

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.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that 11,733 Fixed Charge Notices issued in relation to the offence of Learner Drivers unaccompanied by a qualified driver for the period from January 2019 - October 2020.

I am further advised that:

- 7,608 of these were either paid or are within the payment process.

- 432 were either terminated or became statute barred.

- 3,693 have either gone to summons or have been sent to court.

I am informed that these figures are based on incidents which occurred from 01/01/2019 to 31/10/2020 inclusive and were collated based on data from PULSE and FCPS data as of 8 February 2021. As they constitute real time operational data, they are liable to change.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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640. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of disqualified learner drivers who failed to surrender their learner permit in 2018 and 2019 and were summoned to court for the offence; the number convicted each year for this offence; the penalties imposed each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7029/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have requested information from the Courts Service and am making further enquiries in relation to this matter. I will write to the Deputy directly with the information requested when it is available.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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641. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of full licence holders who were disqualified but failed to surrender their driver licence in 2018 and 2019 and were summoned to court for the offence of failing to surrender; the number convicted each year for this offence; the penalties imposed each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7030/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have requested information from the Courts Service and I am making further enquiries in relation to this matter. I will write to the Deputy directly with the information requested, when it is available.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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642. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 501 of 8 December 2020, the number of drivers summoned to court for driving without a licence, per district court in 2018, 2019 and up to 31 July 2020; the number convicted per district court in each year; and the fines imposed per district court in each year. [7031/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 the Courts Service, shows the number of drivers summoned to court for driving without a licence, per district court, for 2018 and 2019. 2020 figures are for the period from January – July 2020.

Please note that the Courts 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.

Jan – Dec 2018

Jan – Dec 2019

Jan – 31 July 2020

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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643. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drivers who were summarily convicted of the offence of driving without a driving licence in 2018, 2019 and up to 31 July 2020 who were, at the time they committed the offence, disqualified; and the penalties imposed on those drivers under section 38(5) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended by section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2006. [7032/21]

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.

Number of drivers before the courts by way of summons or charge sheet for driving without a licence for 2018, 2019 and Jan – July 2020:

Report on the number of orders & number of persons per order for the years 2018; 2019 & Jan – July 2020

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.

Section 38(5) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 only provides for summary conviction of the offences mentioned by the Deputy.