Vol. 574 No. 3
233 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average time by which drivers are notified that they have been caught on camera driving in excess of the permitted speed limit following the offence; and if steps will be taken urgently to reduce this timescale in the interests of fairness. [26946/03]
I have had inquiries made with the Garda authorities and I am informed that the length of time taken to deal with a fixed charge notice differs from case to case. Where a person is detected speeding on camera, the film must be viewed, by the Garda authorities, the registration details checked and a notice issued to the registered owner. If the registered owner was using the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence, he or she has up to 56 days in all to pay the fixed charge. If the registered owner was not using the vehicle, he or she has up to 28 days to return an alternative form identifying the driver. On receipt of this nomination form the nominated driver is then issued with a notice who in turn has up to 56 days to pay.
At the end of each month the Garda Síochána forwards details of all fixed charge payments received during that month to the Department of Transport which in turn subsequently notifies the driver that the application of penalty points will take effect 28 days from the date of issue of the notification from the Department.
Additional resources were allocated to the main Capel Street office in May 2003 to assist in the processing of fixed charge notices. The Garda authorities have advised me that this has resulted in the processing of such notices in a more timely manner.
