MOTORISTS holding non-Irish driving licences are set to continue to avoid penalty points for the foreseeable future. While legislative moves are underway for an EU-wide ban on disqualified drivers, there are no plans to recognise penalty points from other EU states, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Transport.
By MICHAEL McALEER AND BERNA COX
Tourists and non-national residents - including motorists from Northern Ireland - who do not hold Irish driving licences are immune from the points system as it only relates to motorists whose details are held on the National Driver Register.
Therefore drivers from the North at worse face on-the-spot fines or charges of dangerous or reckless driving. However, they cannot incur penalty points on their licences.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Transport, European police forces are not exchanging information on penalties for motorists because no EU-wide penalty points system is in place.
A similar situation exists for Irish motorists when abroad. If caught speeding, or committing any other motoring offence for which a local penalty point system operates, the penalty will not be carried forward onto their Irish record.
Fine Gael's spokesperson on transport, Mr Denis Naughton, says legislation exists that would allow for foreign endorsements to be recorded: it merely awaits the minister's signature.
"While the minister expresses concern over road fatalities," he says, "it should be noted that a significant number of fatal crashes involve Northern drivers, particularly in the border counties, who are not affected by the penalty points system."
Meanwhile, the Department of Transport has yet to set a firm date for implementation of a notification system for driving licence renewal, despite assurances by the Minister for Transport given in the Dáil last June.
Responding to a question from Mr Seymour Crawford TD, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan said at the time that a system of issuing renewal notices for driving licences would be in place by the end of the year. However, the department has said that the system is in the final stages.
"Considerable progress has been made on the introduction of this system," according to the minister, "and the discussions now taking place are in regard to the final element, which is the allocation of the costs of funding the scheme between the departments of transport and the environment". He said that, with more than 1.9 million licences held in this country, the cost of postage on an annual basis will obviously be considerable. "However, I'm confident that the system will be in place and operating later this year."
Fine Gael's Denis Naughton, however, says the reason for the delay is a "turf war" between the departments of environment and transport, each wanting exclusive control of the system.
He claims that, compared to the current system of motor tax renewal notification, the cost of a licence notification system would be considerably less because licence renewal is much less frequent.
In 2001, there were 14,146 convictions for driving licence offences. Included in that figure will have been a few forgetful souls who simply didn't realise their licences were out of date.
The Garda has some discretion in this regard and, if it appears that the lapse is recent and an immediate application to renew is made, then the likelihood is that the prosecution will not proceed or will be dismissed - charges were withdrawn or dismissed in 19,372 cases that year.
Mr Crawford, who tabled the question on a notification system for driving licences, later discovered that his own licence was out of date, although only when he was boarding a ferry to England last August.
He says that when he produced his licence to board the ferry, he found it had actually expired in May.
Because of the new requirement to carry a licence at all times when driving, people have become vigilant, says deputy Crawford, and are aware of their licence date.
But, he maintains, this will not last. "In three or four months time," he says, "we'll become complacent again.
"It's imperative that a renewal notification system be up and running before a penalty point is recorded on an out-of-date licence."
Asked about the issue of motor insurance companies having access to the penalty points database, the minister says that discussions were ongoing and that he is confident that an agreement will be reached within the next few weeks.
He says that he hopes this will ensure drivers with verifiable safe driving records are rewarded, and drivers who are clearly repeat offenders will suffer the consequences by having their insurance premiums increased, based on an as yet to be agreed accumulation of penalty points.
For the moment, though, it remains the personal responsibility of the driver to spare themselves the inconvenience and a possible penalty point and remember in good time the shelf-life of their licence.