There is no widespread evidence that motorists banned from driving are continuing to do so on invalid licences, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen told the Dáil Transport Committee.
Mr Cullen was responding to suggestions that motorists with 12 penalty points on their licences were still driving because they did not know they had reached the points limit, or they were deliberately breaking the law.
While motorists reaching 12 points are banned from driving, no endorsement appears on their licences. Fine Gael and Labour yesterday asked the Minister to amend the new Road Safety Authority Bill so that endorsements would appear on licences, but Mr Cullen refused.
The practice of endorsing licences was discontinued in 2002, Mr Cullen said, and it would place a "huge administrative burden" on the Garda if reintroduced. And, he said, he did not believe there was widespread abuse of the system.
The situation would be put beyond doubt if motorists simply had their licences endorsed, Fine Gael's Paul Connaughton said.
