The new penalty points system for endorsing the licences of speeding driverslater this year will, at least initially, be implemented by the Garda.
The only authorised body which is allowed to stop traffic offenders, the Garda will continue to impose on-the-spot fines for speeding and the licence endorsement, carried out by the Department of the Environment, will flow from this, according to Government sources.
About 200,000 on-the-spot fines for speeding are imposed annually, creating revenue of up to €12 million. The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said yesterday the penalty point system would be in place this autumn and would initially be done by clerical staff in his Department while the introduction of a computerised system was prepared for next year.
Mr Brennan said it was likely the introduction of the computer system, which would have to be linked to the Garda computer system, would probably take between 15 and 18 months to introduce.
He also said the Government had yet to deal with the issue of whether the proposed dedicated new traffic corps, which is promised in the Programme for Government, would be "within the Garda or parallel to it". The issue of enforcement procedures was also subject to further examination.
He promised that he would expedite the introduction of a penalty points system, with the intention of having it in operation by the end of the year.
The Minister emphasised that the initial target for gardaí would be speeding drivers who would have their licences endorsed.
Last year the Garda issued more than 345,000 on-the-spot speeding penalties but none of these drivers had any further sanction imposed.
Yesterday, the Labour Party accused the Government of failing to implement policy on reducing road deaths.
Ms Joan Burton, Labour's spokeswoman on transport, said: "The policy has failed because the Government has attached no urgency at all to the necessary measures required to implement the strategy.
"The whole penalty points debacle is a case in point. The penalty points policy was agreed as far back as 1998, giving ample time to put the necessary technology in place.
"Instead ministers dragged their heels and now the Minister [Mr Brennan] is proposing a half-baked approach which will only introduce the system manually from October and the computer system needed has not even been put out to tender, which would mean a delay of up to two years."
There are no accumulating penalties for persistent offenders, a penalty deficit which gardaí say does not significantly discourage people from repeating the offence.
The penalty points system has been in place in Britain and other EU countries for years. As points accumulate, the offender initially faces higher insurance premiums and finally will lose the licence and have to retake a driving test.
The introduction of a penalty points system was one of a number of commitments made by Government in 1998 as part of an initiative designed to meet the EU-imposed targets of reducing road deaths by 20 per cent per annum over the following five years.
The additional efforts by gardaí in vastly increasing the numbers of people prosecuted for speeding appears to have had some effect in reducing road deaths.
The base line annual figure set for the reduction programme was 1997 when 472 people were killed. In 1998 the figure reduced to 463; in 1999 this further reduced to 413; in 2000 to 415; and in 2001 to 404.
Under Mr Brennan's proposed system, drivers who have accumulated 12 penalty points will be automatically disqualified from driving for six months.
A driver stopped by a garda will have the option of paying an on-the-spot fine, thus incurring a lower number of points, or going to court and risking a higher number of points on their record if convicted.
The introduction of a "dedicated traffic corps" was included in the Programme for Government published in July. The Government said work on the system "will be completed to ensure its implementation at an early date".
In addition, it added that "a renewed three-year road safety strategy will be introduced to target speeding, drink-driving, seat belt wearing and pedestrian safety in order to significantly reduce road deaths and injuries".
Other penalties include confiscation of vehicles for those driving without insurance; stringent measures to tackle fraudulent and exaggerated claims, and measures to speed up the settlement of smaller claims outside the costly judicial system.
Last June, the Irish Insurance Federation urged the Government to earmark the 2 per cent stamp duty on motor insurance premiums for investment; to introduce the penalty points system; create a Garda road traffic corps, and to provide technology to increase detections for speeding.