Frustration at poorly functioning penalty points system

THERE was a lot of goodwill towards transport minister Seamus Brennan last October when he introduced the long-awaited penalty points system.

Most people agreed radical action was needed to reduce the escalating number of road deaths. Penalty points worked well in Britain, helping to reduce the level of road deaths. However, the problem here is the minister appears to have put the cart before the horse.

The first phase was introduced last October without any computerised system to record the speeding offences or feed them into garda and court services computers.

Six months later, gardaí still have to record these speeding offences on paper. Mounting frustration with this massive paperwork prompted the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) yesterday to back a motion suspending further implementation of the penalty points system.

The AGSI believes it is ridiculous that gardaí are reduced to ruling lines in sheets of paper to record penalty points.

However, frustration among members of the force runs deeper. Gardaí had misgivings about the operation of the system from the start and threatened to delay its introduction because, they claimed, it was unworkable.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) only agreed to implement the system after garda management assured them they would be fully briefed on the system and there would be no extra paperwork.

Now it is the middle management who are protesting and saying the system is unworkable. Responsibility for the system lies with the departments of justice and transport and yesterday they insisted everything was being done to get the computerised system up and running as soon as possible.

They expect it to be ready by the end of the year or early next year. The main problem is making it compatible with the garda Pulse computer system and computers used by the courts service. It will be interesting to see if the GRA also decides to suspend further implementation of the penalty points system.

Speeding, which carries between two and four penalty points, is the only offence being tracked by the gardaí, but it is intended to add up to 60 more traffic offences by the end of the year.

These would include driving without insurance, without an NCT test certificate, careless driving and parking in a dangerous place.

These all carry five points. Offences such as using a mobile phone, driving without a seat belt, dangerous overtaking and driving without a licence all carry two points.

Mr Brennan and assistant garda commissioner Tony Hickey are expected to give a start-up date for the computerisation of the penalty points system at a press briefing today.

The gardaí will certainly get public support for their demand that the penalty points system be computerised.