Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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222. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 200 of 12 May 2021, the number of drivers summoned to court for failure to pay a fixed charge notice within the statutory payment timeframe for the offence of holding a mobile phone while driving by District Court in each of the years 2018 to 2020; the number of drivers convicted per year per District Court and the penalties imposed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28495/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes operational decisions relating to road traffic matters.

For clarity, there are no summons issued for the failure to pay a fixed charge notice within the statutory payment window. A person who chooses to exercise their right not to pay the fixed charge penalty will be summonsed to Court for the offence for which the fixed charge notice was originally issued - in the case of the information requested, the offence of driving whilst holding a mobile phone.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the tables below set out the number of instances, by Garda Division, in which a party was issued with a fixed charge notice for the offence of driving while holding a mobile phone and, in addition, a summons was issued and/or the case was sent to court.

Breakdown by division of the number of instances in which a party was issued with a Fixed Charge Notice for the offence of driving while holding a mobile phone.

I am advised by the Courts Service that the tables appended to this answer set out the number of offences recorded and number of persons convicted for the offence of Driving while holding a mobile phone by District Court; and penalties imposed for the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and the period January to March 2021.

In addition, a defendant may receive more than one penalty and will be listed twice in the report or a person may appear before more than one court area and will also be listed twice in the report.