Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 July 2004
36 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Transport if he has had discussions with the Northern authorities regarding the integration of the penalty points system North and South; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20581/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraPenalty points are being applied to the driving licence records of those convicted of speeding, seat belt wearing, insurance and careless driving offences, and to those who pay a fixed charge to the Garda in the case of speeding and seat belt wearing offences to prevent the instigation of court proceedings. The full application of the penalty points system will be achieved when the relevant information technology systems being developed by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Síochána are completed.
Penalty point systems now operate in this country, Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The authorities in both jurisdictions are considering the introduction of a scheme to provide for the mutual recognition of penalty points between the United Kingdom and Ireland. This consideration is being pursued under the auspices of the British-Irish Council. One of the first matters that needs to be addressed before full mutual recognition can be realised will be the introduction of bilateral recognition of the separate penalty points systems operating in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I live in the Border area and would be familiar with driver patterns in Northern Ireland. Drivers in Northern Ireland in particular are law-abiding. Will the Minister explain why these same drivers tend to lose all respect for the law when they come south of the Border and their driving behaviour differs dramatically in this jurisdiction? Drivers in the Republic quite often tend to follow the flow. Does the Minister believe non-harmonisation of penalties for Northern Ireland drivers with those levied in this jurisdiction might be responsible for the fact that of the nine national blackspots for accidents, five are located in the North Eastern Health Board area which is bordered by northern counties? Some 25% of all fatal accidents occur within the North Eastern Health Board area.
It should also be borne in mind that in my own county, Monaghan, there is the main north-south Derry-Dublin access and the east-west Belfast-west of Ireland access. In spite of this there is no accident and emergency department in Monaghan General Hospital. That is one of the dangers there.
What factors inhibit harmonisation of the two systems and when is the likely date for implementation? Will the Government negotiate bilateral agreements with its EU partners for mutual recognition of penalty points throughout the different jurisdictions? This is especially important given that we have many more foreign cars on our roads now on a semi-permanent basis. It would make sense if drivers break the same laws that they should suffer the same penalties throughout the EU.
I share the Deputy's concern and I have approached the Northern Ireland and the UK authorities about speeding up the process of mutual recognition. Both jurisdictions agree in principle that this should be done and we are now working on the logistics of how this should happen. I have seen the statistics and am also aware of the road fatality toll in the north-eastern part of the country, in particular Louth and Meath. The figures are a cause for concern and I am especially conscious of that. The Deputy is right to raise the matter again.
The construction of the M1 motorway has, I suppose, become an attractive speedway for an increasing number of Northern drivers. We will have to sort out the reciprocal penalty points system and we are working on it. I have asked for a meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State in the coming weeks to discuss a range of infrastructural issues, including cross-Border roads. I specifically propose to raise this issue with him to see if more progress can be made.
