The introduction of the computerised driver penalty points system has been delayed by at least a further four months and will not be in place until the middle of next year at the earliest, it has emerged.
The link between the Garda's Pulse computer system and other computer databases needed to operate the full penalty-points system will not be operational until next April.
At this point a trial period of at least several weeks will be needed before the system becomes fully operational.
That means it is likely the full roll-out of penalty points will not be possible before the second half of next year.
As recently as June the Government had claimed that the full system would be in place by the end of this year.
The fixed charge processing system (FCPS), which will handle the paperwork for all 70 offences envisaged under the full scheme, is already operational in Dublin, Cork city and parts of Louth and Meath.
The FCPS is currently integrated with the national driver file and with the Courts Service computer system. However, the Department of Justice has confirmed that integration with the Pulse system will not be in place until next April.
The full roll-out cannot take place until Pulse is fully integrated with the other computer systems.
News of the further delay comes in the context of continued loss of life on the Republic's roads.
In one of the worst accidents in recent years five young people aged 21 and 22 lost their lives on Saturday, October 8th, in a two-car collision at Quigley's Point, near Muff, Co Donegal.
Some 313 people have died in road traffic accidents in the Republic so far this year, compared with 285 during the same period last year.
In May, 42 people were killed on the roads, the highest monthly total for nearly four years.
The new delay in the computerisation of the points system also represents a major blow to Government and Garda plans to reduce road deaths by 25 per cent to below 300 by the end of next year.
Reducing road deaths is now a major priority for An Garda Síochána. Some €30 million has been made available this year for the establishment of a new dedicated Garda Traffic Corps, which will number 1,200 by 2008.
Some 600 of these are new recruits who will be made available to the corps as an extra 2,000 gardaí are recruited into the force over the next three years at a cost of €330 million.
The partial manual introduction of points, for speeding, on November 1st, 2002, had an immediate effect. The total of deaths for 2002 fell by 35, to 376. They fell further in 2003 to 335 before rising again last year to 374.
Since the partial introduction of penalty points a number of new offences have been added, including careless driving, non-wearing of seatbelts and not having insurance. Some 65 more offences will be added following full computerisation of the system.
