Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Jun 2014

Vol. 232 No. 1

Adjournment Matters

Road Traffic Offences

Senator John Kelly

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Adjournment debate regarding fines where people go into court and claim they received summonses in regard to fines they were not aware had been issued. It has been brought to my attention that this has happened on numerous occasions. The matter has been well aired in the media as well. I refer to reports of court cases where people receive a summons in the post which is the first time they realise that, somehow, they had been issued with a fine.

An easy way to solve the problem is to have all of those fines sent by registered post to the offenders. If it is a defence on behalf of the Government that all of these fines are sent out and that people receive them but then claim they never received them in order that the judge will be lenient, it is a fallacy. For the past three years I have dealt with medical card issues and I know the PCARS would almost claim that of the 50% of people who applied for medical cards, it either never received their application or never received supplementary information that was required. Therefore, it is safe to say that mistakes do happen and can happen within the An Post system. It can also be the case that people claim they never received the fine when in fact they did. The easy way to deal with the problem is to issue all of these fines using registered post.

Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Sean Sherlock)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality.

When a relevant offence is detected, the registered owner of the vehicle involved receives a fixed charge notice. I know that is stating the obvious but I wish to set out the process. The address to which the fixed charge notice is posted is either the one supplied by the driver, when intercepted by An Garda Síochána, or the address listed on the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport's national vehicle and driver file or, NVDF.

The Minister has been informed by the Garda authorities, who are responsible for enforcement of the legislation, that ordinary post is utilised to serve fixed charge notices, in accordance with section 25 of the Interpretation Act 2005. This provides that service of a document may be effected by post and that such service is deemed to have been effected at the time at which a letter would ordinarily have been delivered, unless the contrary is proved. The Minister is also advised that road traffic legislation provides that, in a prosecution relating to an unpaid fixed charge notice, it shall be presumed that the relevant fixed charge notice has been served, or caused to be served, and that a payment pursuant to the relevant notice has not been made, unless the contrary is shown.

In so far as the use of registered post is concerned, the Minister will convey the Senator's views on this matter to the Garda authorities and to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. However, the Minister for Justice and Equality would note that use of registered post would not overcome objections that notices were received by persons other than those for whom they were intended, or that persons would seek to avoid service by declining to accept such registered notices. There would also be logistical and cost implications associated with issuing what could be more than 400,000 registered letters annually, in circumstances where a majority of persons receive and pay the fixed charge notices under current arrangements with no difficulties.

The Senator will also be aware that section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 will introduce what is commonly referred to as a "third payment option" into the fixed charge system. Under this mechanism a person, who is summonsed to court for a fixed charge offence, will have a final option to pay a fixed charge not later than seven days before the court date on which the charge is to be heard. Without reading the rest of the statement, the central point has been made.

Senator John Kelly

We must acknowledge that mistakes are made and that some people do not receive these fines. I notice from the answer prepared for the Minister of State, by the Department's officials, that it was assumed that people had received their fines. There is nothing definitive about the matter.

In the response it stated that, in some cases, people "would seek to avoid service by declining to accept such registered notices". That is fine but the letter can then be returned to the Department with it noted "refused to accept registered letter". At least the person will have been made well aware that there is a fine and he or she cannot escape that fact. In the past some of these fines were sent by registered post. I speak on behalf of the genuine people who do not get them but are summoned to court, must get a solicitor, get the fine doubled and suffer harsher measures dished out to them. I would appreciate if this matter received serious consideration.

Garda Recruitment

Senator Martin Conway

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I know he is a busy man these days.

I tabled this Adjournment because a number of people, who are members of An Garda Síochána Reserve, applied to join An Garda Síochána when the recent recruitment drive took place. Thousands of people applied to join An Garda Síochána but only a couple of hundred, at a maximum, will be successful. People who have served in the Garda Reserve did not even get called for an interview. They felt a little let down, particularly given the fact that a number of them have served in the Garda Reserve since day one. It is reasonable to expect that somebody who has served in the Garda Reserve for a minimum of two years or 24 months and has a clean record, good references and is well regarded should have got called for an interview. That would have been fair and proper, particularly given the fact that they had given up two years of their time, on a voluntary basis, to serve in the reserve. It they have done that and shown themselves to be good competent citizens, and they are recommended, then they should have automatically been included for interview for An Garda Síochána when the recruitment process came around.

I know that nothing can be done about the current recruitment drive at this stage. With all things being equal, it is not unreasonable to promote the idea that somebody with a minimum specified period in the Garda Reserve, proper references and so on, is afforded an opportunity - out of common courtesy if for no other reason - to reach the interview stage and be interviewed.

I am certainly not advocating that they should have a direct VIP pass into the Garda Síochána but it is more than reasonable that they should be afforded the opportunity of an interview.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. Again, I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality.

In terms of the current recruitment competition, any member of the Garda Reserve was entitled to apply for a position for the full-time service, provided they met the statutory requirements. I can advise Senators that, furthermore, the admission and appointment regulations provide that, as part of the competitive selection process organised by the Public Appointments Service for full-time membership of An Garda Síochána, "due recognition to any satisfactory service by the person as a reserve member" shall be given to such candidates, This provision was introduced in order to acknowledge the beneficial experience and skills gained by a reserve member and to allow them, at assessments and at interview, the opportunity to highlight that experience and skill.

In February 2008 the Garda Commissioner established a group to review training and development for Garda and civilian staff in the Garda Síochána. The report of the review group was published in May 2009 and the contents were noted by the then Government. The objective of the review group was to make recommendations to improve and reinvigorate Garda training in line with best practice in order to meet the new challenges of a changing society. One of the key recommendations identified by the group was that the student-probationer training programme should be radically restructured. The course for Garda trainees is a high level BA course, which necessitates a certain academic capability. The revised training programme stemming from the recommendations of the review group was devised in order to better prepare recruits for the modern policing environment. The main differences between the new and the previous programme is that the new programme carries a greater emphasis on operational policing and focuses on real life scenarios which in turn prepare students for the policing challenges they will face. The new programme will also instil a lifelong learning philosophy for members of the Garda Síochána, with a suite of mandatory and elective courses made available.

I will now outline the stages of the process. The interview stage allows reserve candidates to demonstrate their experience, having a deeper understanding of the work involved as a fully-fledged member. By virtue of their exposure to work in the Garda Síochána, they are in a position to perform well at the structured competency based interview and offer highly relevant examples of how they demonstrated the key competencies required. Interview boards have been briefed in the work of the reserve and their experience in this context.

It is important that all persons wishing to join the full-time force undergo the same competitive selection and recruitment process. In doing so the integrity of the process is maintained. However, the mechanisms mentioned give the reserve members the opportunity to demonstrate their on-the-job learning acquired as members of the reserve. This allows them some advantage in the recruitment process.

I can advise Senators that there are currently 1,192 attested reserve gardaí with a further 89 at various stages of training. To date, 40 reserve members have become full Garda members, and we will, no doubt, see more joining the ranks from this recruitment competition. Garda reserve members make a real and tangible contribution to policing right across the country and we are all fully supportive of its continued development. In this regard, recruitment to the reserve and training of new reserve members is ongoing.

The Minister would like to assure the Senator that the Government is and will continue to be, fully committed to the Garda Reserve. The Minister would also encourage reserve members to apply for the full-time force if they are interested in and committed to being a full-time member. The assessment process will ensure that those who are successful have the capability both to pass the BA course in Applied Policing, as well as the ability to carry out the important functions of a full-time member.

Senator Martin Conway

I thank the Minister of State for his response in which there are many positive aspects. All things being equal, there should be a slight discrimination in favour, if I may go that far, of a person who has had a period of unblemished service within the Garda Reserve.

Overseas Development Aid

Senator John Crown

I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in his various undertakings at present.

I have had representations made to me by concerned citizens who are interested in our development aid programme and who asked that I highlight the issue of the attitude of the statutory Irish developed authorities towards efforts at population control.

Access to birth control is critical to managing the earth's populations. During the 20th century alone, the global population exploded from 1.65 billion to 6 billion people. Over the course of my young lifetime the world population has doubled. There is a huge burden on global food supply. Today 842 million people do not have enough to eat and one in four Sub-Saharan Africans are hungry. As a consequence of the increasing population we have also been quickly depleting the earth of its resources, poisoning its water supply, so critical for life, and disrupting other aspects of the environment. Thankfully, in many parts of the world, this is a situation which is beginning to be ameliorated. However, the situation in Africa - a very troubled continent, where many of our fellow humans live in terrible conditions, to which we have pointed a great degree of our own national aid - is very troubling. Africa's population is likely to double in the next 30 years. Historically, access to birth control has been a deeply divisive political issue in western countries but over the course of my lifetime the ability to access and use contraception is something that women in the western world and Irish women have come to take for granted.

Sadly, family planning is much less readily available in Africa than in any other region on the earth, including other regions which are facing development challenges. Some estimates indicate that a quarter of married women in Africa want contraceptives but cannot get them. In the first 14 years of the current millennium, access to birth control was restricted because of political tensions between the Bush Administration in the US and the UN population programmes, as a result of internal political and cultural issues in the US. As the then Minister of State with responsibility for trade and development noted in 2011, providing women with access to reproductive health care is not just an end in itself, it can have a transformative effect on women's vulnerability to poverty, hunger, economic and social discrimination. The choice to have smaller families allows for greater investment in each child's health care, nutrition and education, improved productivity and better long-term prospects for women, their families and societies.

I understand that between 2006 and 2011, only €30 million was donated to the UN population fund by the Republic. When the then Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, addressed this issue in 2011 the world's population was just under 7 billion people. In the three years since that address, the population has increased by 0.25 billion. How much has the Republic given to the UN population fund since 2011? Does Ireland engage in any programmes which provide increased access to birth control other than the UN population fund? Is the availability of birth control an issue that Irish Aid addresses when it develops programmes with its partner countries?

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I thank the Senator for his good wishes and extend my own good wishes to him and his betrothed on their impending nuptials and wish them the best of luck in their future.

I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Joe Costello. I thank the Senator for raising the issue. We must acknowledge the work and support of the all-party Oireachtas group on sexual and reproductive health and development in supporting the aid programme in difficult financial circumstances domestically and particularly for its work in raising the profile of the issues around gender equality and sexual and reproductive health rights. Population planning remains a priority for Ireland. This is reflected in the funding allocated to population assistance. According to the UNFPA's latest report on tracking the financial resource targets agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development, ICPD, Ireland ranked fourth in terms of the percentage of our official development assistance allocated to the specified population assistance activities. This funding is vitally important to ensure that our partners, such as UNFPA, various NGOs and other partners can deliver programmes which empower women and provide access to sexual and reproductive health rights not only in key partner countries but in more complex settings, such as those referenced by the Senator, affected by natural disaster or conflict and where continued access to reproductive health is particularly critical for women and girls.

We have strongly supported the ICPD global review process which provides the continued evidence to incorporate broader population planning issues into the new sustainable and universal post-2015 development framework. The review report confirms the importance of the linkages between human rights, non-discrimination, equality, sexual and reproductive health and population dynamics for sustainable development.

Under the General Assembly the UN will convene a special session on 22 September to follow up on the programme of action from the ICPD. Ireland will use this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the full implementation of the programme of action and we will work closely with the EU and UN to ensure its recommendations are fully reflected in the post-2015 development framework which must ensure no one is left behind. This means addressing the fragmented implementation of the programme of action. It also means being unafraid to address all elements of the ICPD vision, including sexual and reproductive health, and in doing so that we reach the most marginalised. It is only through this approach that we can address the reason we are all here and truly achieve gender equality and sustainable and inclusive development.

Senator John Crown

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge in particular Mr. Cartan Finegan, who has been an activist and advocate on behalf of the inclusion of population policy in our foreign aid. He was the source of many of the documents I have used in this debate. When we get into the specifics of our aid programmes with our bilateral partners in recipient countries I urge that we ensure an appropriate level of emphasis is given to the need for population control as a component of development policy in these countries.

Deputy Sean Sherlock

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. We use many acronyms in this business, and I should state the ICPD is the International Conference on Population and Development. I acknowledge this year is the 20th anniversary of the ICPD, which itself marked an important new consensus recognising that increasing social, economic and political equality, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, should be the basis for individual well-being, lower population growth and sustainable development.

The Seanad adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 June 2014.