Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Road Traffic Offences.

Dr. Upton:

The Minister for Transport promised shortly after he took office that the penalty points system would be introduced on a phased basis from this autumn. The system was widely welcomed by everyone and we believed a constructive method of reducing road accidents would finally be put in place. It appears it has been put on the long finger once again. What are the Minister's plans for the introduction of the system and, most importantly, when will the first phase be implemented?

Penalty points were introduced in Northern Ireland in 1997. The view of the Department of the Environment there six months later was that the penalty points campaign had a significant impact on drivers' attitudes. At a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in April of this year, it was noted that, in regard to mutual recognition of penalty points by both jurisdictions, it could be possible to address such a measure when the system in the South came into operation. It makes good sense to have a common penalty points system in the North and South. Driving patterns are similar and, since 1996, joint safety awareness campaigns have been in use.

It is five years since the penalty points system was first mooted and we are still waiting on the implementation of the first phase. We are missing out on a golden opportunity for constructive co-operation between North and South on an important road safety issue. Is it a matter of funding not being available to progress the implementation of the penalty points system and has it become part of the Government adjustments we have heard about? Some 304 people have died on the roads so far this year. The daily loss of life and number of serious injuries on our roads is too high a price to pay for not making funding available. While the technology may be sophisticated, it is surely not rocket science in this day and age. If it is a matter of the technology being sophisticated, it is up and running in the North and surely technology transfer could be addressed and brought to bear on the system here.

Drink-driving and driving under the influence of other drugs continue to plague our roads and to put lives at risk. The number of road deaths in 2001 was 411. On-the-spot fines for speeding, not wearing seatbelts and drink-driving in the same year were impressive. Detection of these breaches of road law is not a problem. However, it is clear that detection and imposition of financial penalties have little or no effect on bad road habits.

The penalty points system is effective in other countries and concentrates people's minds when their driving licence is likely to be removed and they are banned from driving. If the Minister is serious about the penalty points system, he should also concentrate on delivering a focused public information campaign to the driving public to make them aware of the system and how it will work. There has not been a word about penalty points in any public information campaign on road safety.

The Minister promised the system would be introduced on a phased manual basis from October, but that month has arrived and there is no sign of it. The loss of life on our roads should not be sidelined and put on the back burner. Either the technology should be accessed and made operational or a manual system introduced. Road safety should not be compromised.

Mr. Martin:

I thank Deputy Upton for raising the issue and I will give the reply on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan. It gives me the opportunity to state in the House the Government's commitment to the introduction of a system of penalty points. The Government Road Safety Strategy 1998-2002 provided for the implementation of a penalty points system in support of road safety enforcement. The legislation necessary for this measure was passed by the Oireachtas in March 2002.

As indicated in the Government strategy on road safety, the design of the system required careful consideration in Irish circumstances because of the exclusive constitutional role of the courts in the administration of justice. This gave rise to protracted examination of the legal issues in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. There could have been no question of proceeding on any basis that entailed uncertainty. Penalty points will be applied in respect of a wide range of minor offences, the commission of which have a potentially negative impact on road safety. These include excessive speeding, red light running, poor lane discipline, non-compliance with stop and yield signs and a number of offences relating to vehicle safety and driver licensing.

Excessive speed is recognised as the most significant contribution to road accident causation and has already been the subject of significant investment in enforcement measures by An Garda Síochána, with more than 345,000 speeding notices issued in 2001. The importance of achieving safer speeds is recognised as a key priority of the current road safety strategy. The Minister, Deputy Brennan, is therefore giving high priority to the introduction of a penalty points system on a phased basis, commencing with its application to speeding offences only. Work is at an advanced stage in putting arrangements in place for the limited operation of penalty points, and the Minister expects this system to be operational by Thursday, 31 October 2002. It is widely accepted that road safety strategies must consist of many different policies and measures and that no single measure is sufficient by itself to ensure improved road safety performance. However, it is envisaged that the implementation of a penalty points system to address recurring driving violations, in particular speeding, will significantly improve driver behaviour on our roads.

The penalty points system will be operated through the national driver file which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government. A project team involving the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Garda Síochána and the Courts Service developed a business specification for a penalty points functionality to be added on to the national driver file. The software application of the national driver file has been changed to accommodate a penalty points system. Before the system becomes fully operational, the national driver file must be supported by the IT systems of the courts and the Garda. The development of these IT systems is a matter for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

I understand from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that a contract for the development of a fixed charge processing system for An Garda Síochána was signed in September 2002 and work on the project is under way. From a Garda Síochána perspective, this computer system will facilitate the full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Act, 2002. The system is planned to be completed by the end of 2003.

As part of the overall computerisation process, electronic interfaces are also planned between the relevant agencies and Departments, that is, An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and the Department of the Environment and Local Government. This is to ensure that the penalty points imposed on offending drivers are recorded on the national driver file maintained by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. In the meantime, the limited operation of the penalty points system to which I referred earlier will involve a manual system operated by the Garda and the courts from which the necessary electronic data for transfer to the national driver file will be captured.

Since the decision was taken to implement the penalty points system on a temporary manual basis for the offence of speeding, senior management in the Garda Síochána the Courts Service and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform have been intensively engaged with officials of the Department of Transport in the development of the system. It has been necessary to design detailed work processes and procedures to determine how the various agencies involved will interact to give effect to the system on a manual basis. This work is being completed and I understand that briefing of gardaí in relation to the new legislation and processes involved has commenced.

The Dáil adjourned at 12.30 a.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 10 October 2002.