The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, is to announce details of the penalty points system for speeding drivers today, regardless of opposition from members of the Garda.
Mr Brennan is said to be determined there will be no further delays with the points system, which was first promised as long ago as July 1998.
A number of meetings have been held with high-ranking gardaí and officials from the Departments of Transport, Environment and Justice to ensure the system is introduced by the Minister's deadline of this Thursday.
It is understood that the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, which had been critical of the system, has been given assurances by senior gardaí that its participation will be reviewed after three months.
Officially, the Garda authorities have welcomed the introduction of the points system.
From Thursday, drivers will collect two penalty points for speeding in addition to the usual fine, which is to be increased from €60 to €80.
The Minister has started the ball rolling with speeding. According to the Department, it is likely that the non-wearing of seatbelts will be the next target, in January or February of next year.
Drivers accumulating 12 penalty points will be automatically disqualified from driving for six months.
A driver stopped by the 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, expected to be four, if convicted.
Penalty points will remain on a driver's licence for three years. The processing of the system will be handled by an external data processing company and over the next six months it is expected the Garda, courts and computers of licensing authorities will be co- ordinated to allow faster, electronic co-ordination of the system.
Over the coming 18 months, a full complement of 62 offences, ranging from parking violations to defective vehicles, will become part of the scheme.
Typical penalty points expected to be imposed are: speeding, two points at the roadside or four points following a court conviction; driving without a licence: two points at the roadside, rising to five for a conviction; not wearing a seatbelt and not wearing a crash-helmet on a motorcycle, an initial two points, rising to four on a court conviction.
The system is already in place in Britain and most European countries, where it has had a beneficial effect on bad driver behaviour.
