Question
326. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of drivers that paid a fixed charge notice for the offence of driving while holding a mobile phone per Garda division within the statutory payment timeframe in each of the years 2018 to 2020 and to date in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53716/21]
Answer
Minister for Justice (Deputy Helen McEntee): As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána. I have no direct role in these matters.
The below table, comprising information provided to me by the Garda authorities, provides a yearly breakdown per Garda division of the number of instances in which a party paid a Fixed Charge Notice (FCN) issued for the offences of driving while holding a mobile phone.
The figures also include instances where a FCN has issued which is still within the active interval for payment or payment is being processed.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021* | |
| Cavan/Monaghan | 987 | 846 | 545 | 213 |
| Clare | 781 | 507 | 563 | 333 |
| Cork City | 1372 | 1143 | 1074 | 1153 |
| Cork North | 1007 | 1007 | 808 | 517 |
| Cork West | 624 | 552 | 498 | 339 |
| D.M.R. Eastern | 941 | 839 | 590 | 291 |
| D.M.R. North Central | 545 | 463 | 448 | 413 |
| D.M.R. Northern | 754 | 995 | 768 | 670 |
| D.M.R. South Central | 820 | 851 | 481 | 262 |
| D.M.R. Southern | 906 | 834 | 497 | 312 |
| D.M.R. Western | 1332 | 1228 | 1216 | 799 |
| Donegal | 395 | 536 | 511 | 388 |
| Galway Div | 2416 | 1947 | 1344 | 599 |
| Kerry | 930 | 970 | 680 | 717 |
| Kildare Div | 1370 | 1062 | 1367 | 1747 |
| Kilkenny/Carlow | 1277 | 972 | 1163 | 1032 |
| Laois/Offaly | 1183 | 900 | 702 | 935 |
| Limerick | 2138 | 1944 | 779 | 608 |
| Louth Div | 546 | 362 | 713 | 418 |
| Mayo | 654 | 1181 | 811 | 762 |
| Meath Div | 547 | 600 | 1086 | 1109 |
| Roscommon/Longford Div | 633 | 542 | 363 | 265 |
| Sligo/Leitrim | 609 | 670 | 210 | 230 |
| Tipperary | 622 | 649 | 664 | 682 |
| Waterford Div | 909 | 689 | 928 | 938 |
| Westmeath Div | 395 | 313 | 308 | 454 |
| Wexford Div | 1407 | 1404 | 1089 | 695 |
| Wicklow Div | 749 | 818 | 558 | 476 |
| National | 26849 | 24824 | 20764 | 17357 |
* Figures for 2021 up to 31/10/2021
The above figures are based on incidents which occurred from 1 January 2018 to 31 October 2021, inclusive. All information contained in this report is based upon operational data from the fixed charge processing system as was available on 2 November 2021 and is liable to change.