Govt and gardaí to discuss points 'overburdening'

Gardaí will meet with Government officials to discuss reports that the penalty points system for speeding drivers is at crisis point.

Transport minister Seamus Brennan called for immediate action after a confidential Garda report was said to recommend reducing the number of speeding tickets issued.

He told RTE radio that senior officers will meet officials from the justice department tomorrow to discuss the reported “overburdening” of the system.

But he insisted speeding motorists will still be punished with points on their licence.

“This is the law of the land, it is not optional,” Mr Brennan said.

“There is absolutely no reason we can’t press ahead with the penalty points system within the resources that we have.”

The report – acquired by RTE – is said to warn that the penalty points system for speeding drivers is close to collapse due to a lack of funding.

It warns of a backlog of 10,000 pictures which officers have insufficient resources to deal with.

It was also reported that one of the options recommended in the report including reducing the number of speeding tickets issued.

The report, carried out by the internal audit section at Garda headquarters, expresses concern that offenders who do not pay their speeding tickets will not face a fine or have penalty points placed on their licence.

Mr Brennan said he had not seen the document but was surprised at the nature of the reports.

He said that since the system was introduced in October last year it had proved a great success and had cut the speed of traffic.

“It (the system) has been extraordinarily successful at saving lives and it will continue,” he told RTE radio.

The report also claimed that a computer system set to administer the speeding points will not function for another 18 months – six months longer than originally planned.

Mr Brennan said the priority was now to get the computer running, and insisted there would be no relaxation of the points system.

George Maybury, of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, said his organisation had predicted the system would fall into chaos.

“We envisaged all this nonsense that’s now arising unfortunately with very serious consequences,” he said.

The situation had arisen because of a lack of Government funding for the project.

“These people can’t get away with this because otherwise the whole thing will fall into disrepute and it shouldn’t fall on our hands,” he said.

So far speeding is the only area targeted by the points system, but not wearing seat belts and dangerous overtaking are to be introduced soon.