Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2015
266. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the Courts Service project to electronically record whether a licence has been presented in court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44766/15]
View answer275. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the requirement for the Courts Service to record the licences of drivers who have been disqualified from driving; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44776/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 266 and 275 together.
As the Deputy is aware the primary purpose of section 63 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 is to ensure that the driving licence number of individual offenders is recorded to enable the application of appropriate penalty points to the licence on conviction by the court.
The Courts Service has confirmed that where an accused is convicted before a court and disqualified from driving, the driving licence number is collected by two methods. The first is where the details are provided by An Garda Síochána prior to submission of an application for a summons in respect of the offence. Where the driving licence number is so collected, the driving licence number is sent electronically to the Courts Service with the summons application and the licence number is updated to the Courts Service computer system. Under the second method, the details are collected by the Court Registrar where a licence is produced to the court at the hearing of the offence. As outlined above, if the licence is produced, the Court Registrar records the licence number and the number is updated to the Courts Service computer system.
Where a driving licence is produced to the court during the course of court proceedings relating to penalty point offences, the Court Registrar records the driving licence number. Following the completion of the proceedings the driving licence number is updated to the Courts Service computer system if the accused is convicted of the offence before the court. Subsequently the details of the conviction and the associated driving licence number are sent electronically to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for the application of penalty points.
I am informed that where an accused is summonsed to appear before a court and subsequently convicted of the offence, if a driving licence is not produced to the court, the Court Registrar records in the Court Minute Book or on the summons that no driving licence was produced. The non- production of the driving licence is recorded whether or not the accused appears before the court.
The Courts Service has advised that there is no project underway to electronically record the non-production of a licence in court. However, I want to assure you that my Department is in contact with the relevant agencies with a view to ensuring that the most efficient and effective processing and recording of data in respect of non-production of licences applies.
