Figures showing over 33,000 people have been issued penalty points may have been "massaged" to imply the system is more effective than it actually is, Fine Gael claimed today.
The statistics released today by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, show 32,500 drivers received two points, 751 had four points applied, 29 received six points and three had eight points.
While the Minister's announcement that the non-wearing of seat belts would also be subject to penalties by the end of the month was welcomed by Fine Gael transport spokesman, Mr Denis Naughton, he questioned whether the resources were available to enforce the measure.
"There are barely 125 members of the Garda Traffic Unit on duty at any one time in Ireland. Unless Minister Brennan puts the proper resources into place - and I am not talking about expensive television advertising campaigns - the penalty points system will continue to lose its effectiveness," Mr Naughton said.
Although figures released by the National Safety Council show there have been eight fewer fatalities for this half of this year (176) when compared to the same last period last year, Mr Naughton expressed concern about the increase in road fatalaties in recent months.
"Seamus Brennan's much-hyped penalty points system is clearly losing its effectiveness ... After the initial impact of penalty points early this year, when the number of road deaths fell dramatically compared to last year, the casualties are beginning to mount again.
"Minister Brennan today tried to prove that the system is working by producing figures for the number of drivers apprehended under the penalty points system. But he left out one crucial piece of information: when the offences took place. This suggests that the Minister is massaging the figures to suit his own purposes," Mr Naughton added.