Róisín Shortall
Question:172 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding the penalty points system; the start date (details supplied) of the points on a licence. [13063/04]
View answerThursday, 6 May 2004
Questions (172)
Written answers
The penalty points system, which is provided for in the Road Traffic Act 2002, was introduced with effect from 31 October 2002 for the offence of breaching a speed limit, from 1 June 2003 for insurance offences and from 25 August 2003 for seat belt wearing offences. Penalty points are applied to the driving licence records of those convicted of such offences, and to those who pay a fixed charge, in the case of speeding and seat belt wearing offences, to the Garda to prevent the instigation of court proceedings.
I intend to introduce penalty points for careless driving with effect from 1 June 2004. This measure should have a further positive influence on the driving behaviour of those who have little regard for road traffic law. As of 29 April 2004 more than 144,000 drivers had received penalty points since the introduction of the system in October 2002, including one driver who had reached the 12 point threshold which leads to automatic disqualification.
Section 2 of the Act provides that the endorsement of penalty points can only occur following the receipt of a notification that a person has been convicted of the commission of a penalty point offence or has paid a fixed charge. Penalty points only apply 28 days after the date of that notice. Responsibility for the issue of notification following a conviction for a penalty point offence rests with the Courts Service and, where a fixed charge is paid, with the Commissioner for the Garda Síochána.
As soon as my Department is notified that a fixed charge has been paid or that a court conviction has been secured in respect of a penalty point offence, this information is processed and the notice is issued to the person concerned on behalf of my Department by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which administers the national driver file. This process is normally carried out in about two weeks.