SHANE Ross said that despite reports from Fine Gael that they were prepared to go to “all-out war” over the Transport Minister’s new speeding penalty plans, he has not been contacted by any of those who claim to be against it.

Rural Fine Gael ministers are plotting to derail plans for graduated speed penalties which will come before Cabinet tomorrow.

Minister Ross wants to introduce new laws allowing penalty points and fines to be applied based on how far above the speed limit a motorist is caught travelling.

However, there is growing opposition in Fine Gael, which one minister predicated could result in “all-out war” at Cabinet.

Responding to this, Minister Ross said that he would be prepared to respond to the anonymous TD “if they were prepared to be named.” The Independent TD continued that he has not been contacted by anyone “plotting” in opposition to his plan.

“The interesting thing is that it’s an unnamed TD. If the TD was prepared to be named, I’d answer the question of war,” he said.

“I’m not privy to the plot and not a single minister, nor a rural TD has approached me on this issue at all. I don’t think there is going to be a need for any sort of war. There might be a big of discussion but I don’t anticipate any sort of war.

“Any time you have road traffic legislation you always have a very brisk discussion and there are going to be differences in the different parties about it and that’s the case.

“I’m sure they might have reservations about the detail but since it had originally come into the Cabinet, we have changed it to take account of their difficulties and we’ve made it a little more lenient than it was originally.”

At present, a person caught speeding receives three penalty points and an €80 fine, regardless of how much they exceed the limit by.

Mr Ross wants the system amended so offenders are punished proportionately.

The sanction for those caught up to 10kmh over the limit will actually be reduced to two points and a €60 fine.

Anyone speeding between 10kmh and 20kmh will receive three penalty points and an €80 fine.

This rises to four penalty points and a €100 fine for those 20kmh to 30kmh over the limit.

Mr Ross originally attempted to implement more strict penalties for speeding across the board, however, having met a wall with that proposal, he said that the Bill to be debated before the Cabinet tomorrow, is already a compromise on that.

“The Bill is actually a graduated speeding Bill and it fundamentally changes the way we respond to speeding and it means that those who are the least amount over the speeding limit actually get more lenient penalties,” he said.

“So the majority of people find themselves in the same or a better position. It aims to make it the faster you go the more you get punished but we thought it was worth changing to make it a little more lenient for the people who were only marginally over the limit.

“We want to make it absolutely clear that there are minor infringements and really serious dangerous infringements. It went to a sun committee in the Cabinet so I don’t think there is a plot of any sort I think people are saying things that they are going to say in cabinet tomorrow anyway.

“It’s not a rural issue, it’s an issue about saving lives.”

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