asked the Minister for Justice if he will give the number of motorists living in the Six-Counties who have been prosecuted for exceeding the speed limit in the Republic to the latest available date.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Speed Limit Prosecutions.
158.
No statistics of this kind are kept.
Would the Minister say whether or not it is a fact that drivers from Northern Ireland are not prosecuted for speeding offences in the Republic?
Nonsense.
Would the Minister have this matter investigated and, on a very rough check, would he be able to find out whether it is nonsense or the truth?
There is no question about it. The speed limits are of universal application, except for the specific vehicles exempted in the regulations. It does not matter where a person comes from, he must obey the speed limits and if he is detected in breaking them, he will be prosecuted.
Is the Minister not aware that the reports which appeared in the public Press of prosecutions have not so far revealed that one person from Northern Ireland has been prosecuted?
Reports in the public Press would be a very inaccurate guide in the matter. Only a fraction of prosecutions are reported in the public Press.
Is it not correct that the Garda authorities state there is no point in issuing summonses to people who simply go across the Border and, therefore, cannot be pursued?
I do not——
Is the Minister aware that there is wholesale breach of the regulations by those types of drivers coming from Northern Ireland? I know it. I drive on the Dublin-Belfast road every day.
As a man of Northern extraction, I must resent this slur on the people of Northern Ireland.
The Dáil adjourned at 4.40 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 5th February, 1964.