Collection of penalty points fines set to be privatised

THE Government is on the verge of privatising the payment collection system for penalty points.

The Department of Justice is selecting a private company to operate the system nationwide.

It is also understood the long-awaited and costly computer system to process penalty points will be rolled out in the coming months.

The system is being piloted in the Limerick and Monaghan/Cavan garda divisions and is due to finish by the end of the month. If successful, the system will be spread across the country.

The Department of Justice put a contract to run the system out to tender on November 17 last year.

"The department is at the final stages of selecting a company that can provide the service nationwide," a source said.

The chosen firm is expected to start operating in the next three months.

Currently, gardaí and civil servants work in the Garda Fines Office in Capel Street, Dublin, processing tens of thousands of penalty points for the Dublin area.

Outside Dublin, individual garda stations send tickets to divisional headquarters, from where they are sent to a private company SWS Group in Bandon, Co Cork.

The contract with SWS is described as an interim measure, until the new system is up and running.

"With the privatisation of speed cameras more motorists will be caught," said the source. "It's a massive job to operate the system nationwide. That's why they didn't want gardaí or civil servants engaged in it. Gardaí don't need to do it."

More than 90,000 people were hit with penalty points in the first 14 months of the system. Two further offences are expected to be added to the current three offences before March. A further 65 offences will be added.

Some motorists have expressed concern that private companies will operate will greater zeal than gardaí.

A Department of Justice spokesman confirmed that the selection process was "advancing satisfactorily", but could not give a time frame.

The computer software to operate the penalty points will create a combined system linking systems in the gardaí, the Courts Service and the Department of Environment. This software known as Pulse II has to be installed onto the garda Pulse system.

It emerged last Friday that the Department of Justice paid consultants Fujitsu Consulting €10.4 million to install the software to run the points system.

The original Pulse, which spiralled in cost from €25m to more than €45m, was not itself capable of processing penalty points. Over €40m was allocated for garda office machinery in 2002 and 2003, the bulk going towards Pulse II.

Separately, Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has announced plans to privatise the operation of speed cameras.