The vast majority of orders under which drivers avoided penalty points by using a legal loophole to get a 24-hour driving disqualification order were granted by Naas District Court, according to Courts Service figures.
Of a total 33 ancillary disqualification orders granted by District Courts nationally in 2023 and 2024, 27 were granted at Naas District Court, data released by the Courts Service show.
All 18 orders made in 2023 were granted by the Naas court. Of the 15 orders made in the State last year, nine were granted by Naas, three by Kilkenny District Court, two by Limerick District Court and one by Dublin District Court.
The 33 orders related to 27 drivers, meaning some got more than one 24-hour disqualification.
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In the three years up to 2023, no ancillary disqualification orders were granted.
After the loophole was highlighted by The Irish Times more than a year ago, an amending provision was included last April in the Road Traffic Act 2024 to close it.
That provision has yet to be commenced and, in the interim, the loophole has continued to be availed of.
The Department of Transport has said it is intended the commencement order will be put before the Minister, Fianna Fáil’s Darragh O’Brien, by the end of this month.
Earlier this month, The Irish Times reported a driver obtained two 24-hour ancillary driving disqualification orders, thus avoiding having penalty points endorsed on her licence, for using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seat belt.
Both disqualification orders were granted by Judge Desmond Zaidan at Naas District Court, the first last December and the second last month, on foot of applications by the woman’s solicitor, Tim Kennelly, to re-enter proceedings involving his client.
Under the regulations, a driver who reaches 12 penalty points is supposed to be disqualified from driving for six months, but section 2.8 of the Road Traffic Act 2002 has enabled a small number of drivers to avoid that. The section provides, where a person admits, or is convicted of, a penalty points offence, and an ancillary disqualification order is made, those points shall not be endorsed on the person’s licence.
The section does not specify a minimum disqualification period for an ancillary order, which is discretionary, leaving it up to individual judges to decide whether to grant one.
The Department of Transport said earlier this month that when penalty points are endorsed or a disqualification order made in court, the Courts Service informs the department which applies the sanctions on the National Driver File.
Since the penalty points system was introduced in 2002, points could be applied or an ancillary disqualification made, but not both simultaneously, said a department spokesman.
For ancillary disqualifications of less than six months, the 2024 Act makes it possible for both sanctions to be applied in respect of one offence.
Given the lack of historical overlap between the two sanctions, the Courts Service has, to date, informed the department about penalty points and disqualifications via separate channels, the spokesman said.
The reason why the amending provision had not yet been commenced was because the department and Courts Service have been engaging on how the new system will work in practice, he said. The commencement order is intended to be put before the Minister for signature by the end of this month, he said.
