Road Traffic Offences

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 September 2012

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Ceisteanna (138)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

138. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown on the district courts that are enforcing section 63 of the the 2010 Road Traffic Act; if he will indicate the reason that all district courts are not enforcing this section of the 2010 Act; if he will further indicate the number of cases heard in each district court and where convicted driver's licence details were recorded by court clerks and forwarded to National Vehicle and Driver File for penalty points to be applied; the number of cases in each district court where convicted drivers' licence details were not recorded by the Courts Service and not forwarded to NVDF and reason for not doing so; the number of cases in each court where the court clerk record the details of drivers who did not hand over their licence and the number of those were forwarded on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40808/12]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

As I previously advised the Deputy, the Courts Service has put in place arrangements to ensure that summonses issued since May 2012 include wording to advise persons charged with an offence under the Road Traffic Acts to bring their driving licence together with a photocopy of the licence when they are attending court. As the Deputy is aware, the conduct of any case before a court is a matter for the presiding judge. I am, however, informed that the Courts Service has communicated with the judiciary to facilitate an arrangement that defendants who appear before the court are requested in court to produce their driving licence and a copy thereof to the court registrar for the purpose of having the driving licence number recorded. Registrars have been requested to record whether or not the licence or a copy thereof was produced to the Court.

As I have stated previously these summons cases are appearing in court from this month. In addition I am informed that a period of at least 15 days must elapse before details of driving licences are forwarded to the National Vehicle Driver File in order to take account of the period in which appeals can be lodged. Therefore statistics arising from the new arrangements are not yet available. I have asked the Courts Service to furnish a report to me at end of November at which stage the arrangements will have been operating for three months and I will arrange to forward details to the Deputy at that time.

Question No. 139 answered with Question No. 130.