This article is from page 3 of the 2006-05-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
TRAFFIC gardaí have mistakenly hit a number of Clare motorists with double penalty points.
Gardaí at Ennis have asked any driver caught in the mix-up to write to them to have the extra points deducted.
A Department of Transport spokesman pointed a finger at some gardaí who sent notices of penalty points to two processing centres, instead of one at Garda Fines Office at Capel Street in Dublin.
Since last month, when a new automatic computerised system was introduced, gardaí were to send notices only to the Dublin office, rather than to SWS in Cork, the company responsible for inputting the points electronically. But some continued to send them to both.
Staff at the fines office are meant to notify officials at the Department of Transport of all new points handed out. These are then automatically added on to a driver’s licence.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport admitted that there was an overlap, in the cases of a number of Clare, Galway and Limerick drivers, and that the issue would be rectified.
“The department became aware of it and got in touch with the gardaí, to ensure that only one notice will be sent,” said the spokesperson.
“It will be rectified soon, between gardaí and the SWS system in Cork,” the spokesperson added.
The Head of the Clare Garda Division Traffic Corps, Inspector Kevin Moynihan, said only a “handful” of drivers in Clare were affected by the mistake.
He urged any drivers affected by the error to contact gardaí and said the extra points would be deducted as soon as possible.
“If someone reports to us that they have got double points, we will write to the Department and get the penalty points taken off. This is only a temporary thing and it shouldn’t happen from now on,” he said.
“It happened before the new computer system was fully operational – between February 20 and April 3. The Department was accepting what they were getting . . . I have come across three or four drivers who were affected,” he added.
Inspector Moynihan has also urged Clare drivers to pay their fines at their local post offices, or to a PO Box address in Kilrush, and not at Garda stations.
“People are supposed to pay them at post offices, as it says on the back of the notice. People are paying them at Garda stations,” he said.