Penalty Points System

Tuesday, 23 January 2024

Questions (452)

Michael Moynihan

Question:

452. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Justice to outline in tabular form the number of fixed penalty notices for speeding that went to summons stage and were served per county in the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2874/24]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I have contacted An Garda Síochána for the information requested by the Deputy. Regrettably this information was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy again once the information is to hand

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.

I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 452 of 23 January 2023 where you sought: "In tabular form the number of fixed penalty notices for speeding that went to summons stage and were served per county in the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023."

As you will be aware, under the Garda Sfochana Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Siochana, which includes the enforcement of road traffic legislation and the recording of information on Garda IT systems. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out a yearly breakdown per Garda Division of Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) for speeding, where a summons was issued, with an offence status of 'Summons Ready', 'Manual Summons', 'Company Summons' or 'Sent to Courts', from 2019 up to 29 January 2024.

Divisions	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Clare/Tipperary	1187	1283	1394	2925	4078
Cork City	431	652	1107	1269	967
Cork North	498	577	578	789	550
Cork West	466	241	263	404	280
D.M.R. East	376	457	306	352	282
D.M.R. North Central	736	900	831	518	552
D.M.R. North	1327	1594	1309	1017	650
D.M.R. South Central	342	385	370	396	268
D.M.R. South	184	405	407	562	588
D.M.R. West	420	1822	1124	1223	1089
Donegal	471	393	368	421	355
Galway	1115	1255	1018	1385	1104
Kerry	547	390	351	347	421
Kildare	1735	1399	1863	1265	1190
Laois/Offaly	648	787	849	704	717
Limerick	1375	1043	1168	1263	1043
Louth/Cavan/Monaghan	906	1313	1321	1201	1411
Mayo/Roscommon/Longford	839	806	601	519	479
Meath/Westmeath	785	1534	1558	1750	1657
Sligo/Leitrim	344	153	243	182	209
Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow	1175	1102	1176	1057	1176
Wexford	468	565	552	449	548
Wicklow	546	1311	1099	641	643
National	16921	20367	19856	20639	20257

It should be noted that offence status is not set and may change over time. This can particularly be the case where an FCN was sent for summons and later paid, meaning the FCN was subsequently withdrawn. This occurs in a large number of cases and changes the offence status of FCNs.

I am advised by the Garda Authorities that the further table provided below sets out the number of speeding FCNs where there was a verifiable summons linked to an FCN, and their service method.

Service Method	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Blank	8671	8034	7915	10534	14023
By Post	4682	6936	7494	7326	3644
Personal Service	4184	5985	4672	2836	992
Delivery By Hand	2625	3661	3061	2306	828
Other	163	173	107	53	27
Grand Total	20325	24789	23249	23055	19514*

* There is an administrative process that needs to be undertaken when FCNs go to summons. Once an FCN status is updated to indicate the status change, it may still take a period of time to create the summons. As fewer summonses will have been created in 2023, fewer will have been withdrawn as paid as in previous years. This would explain why the figures in Table 2 are lower than in Table 1 for 2023.

It is worth noting the above figures are operational and may be liable to change.

I am further informed 49,117 summonses linked to speed FCNs from 2019- 2023 had no service method. Of those 49,117 summonses, 44,706 were issued/approved by the Courts and the remaining 4,411 were being processed.

Of those 44,706 issued/approved summonses, 29,677 had a Court outcome. A Court outcome indicates that the summons was served.

I hope this information is of assistance.