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Fixed Payment Notices can be issued by An Garda Síochána for a wide variety of offences, including many road traffic and some public order offences. They provide an offender the opportunity to pay a fine to avoid prosecution. In December 2020, additional Fixed Payment Notices were introduced for breaches of COVID-19 regulations.
The Garda Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS) database is used to administer the issuing of Fixed Payment Notices. The number of offences for which Fixed Payment Notices were issued, excluding terminated Notices, for years 2015 to 2021 is given in Table 6.1. Users should note when looking at this table that there were varying COVID-19 restrictions in place for 2020 and 2021. These had an impact on levels of crime, for example, reduced traffic volumes, increased Garda road checkpoints, closure of licensed premises, etc.
Regarding the figure of 23,067 in respect of Breaches of Public Health Restrictions for 2021, users should note the following: The facility to fully record all Fixed Charge Notices in respect of Breaches of COVID-19 restrictions was only available on the FCPS from 7 December 2020. This followed the introduction of Statutory Instrument 536/2020 - Health Act 1947 (Fixed Payment Notice and Dwelling Event Provisions) (COVID-19) Regulations 2020. Prior to that Crimes were recorded on PULSE and referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions in line with An Garda Síochána COVID-19 policy. All COVID-19 related offences where a Fixed Charge Notice was not used or where it was issued and not paid within 28 days were recorded on PULSE. The availability of this facility meant that An Garda Síochána were able to fully record all Fixed Payment Notices issued for Breaches of COVID-19 restrictions.
Other than the breaches of COVID-19 regulations, the number of Fixed Payment Notice offences issued by An Garda Síochána fell for most categories between 2020 and 2021. The biggest rates of decrease were for Driving Without Insurance (-26%), Carriage of Goods, Trailers, Taxis & Luas offences (-26%), Cycling offences (-25%), and for failing to display a valid NCT disc (-21%). There were, however, increases in the number of fines issued for Learner Driver related offences – unaccompanied driving (+13%) and failure to display L or N plates (+9%). In addition, Motorway offences were up 5% as were Public Order offences (+3%). See Figure 6.1.
| X-axis label | Percentage Change |
|---|---|
| Public Order offences | 3 |
| Drink Driving offences | -1 |
| Speeding offences | -1 |
| Holding a Mobile Phone while Driving | -2 |
| Seat Belt (incl. child restraint) offences | -17 |
| No Tax | -8 |
| No Insurance | -26 |
| No NCT | -21 |
| Failing to Display L or N plates | 9 |
| Unaccompanied Learner Driver | 13 |
| Vehicle Roadworthiness offences | -17 |
| Motorway offences | 5 |
| Parking offences | 2 |
| Other Driving offences | -2 |
| Cycling offences | -25 |
| Carriage of Goods (HGV etc), Trailers, Taxis, Luas offences | -26 |
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