Kim Nugent granted stay in High Court penalty-points challenge

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Kim Nugent was granted permission to bring a High Court challenge to six penalty points and her resulting driving disqualification. Mr Justice Seamus Noonan granted permission on an ex parte basis and stayed the imposition of the points pending the outcome of her action. The proceedings were reported on 15 December 2014.

She received two fixed charge notices after being stopped by gardai for two offences of exceeding the 120km/h limit on 6 August 2014. Both incidents occurred on the M6 near Fardrum, Moate, while she was travelling to and from Dublin, bringing a relative suffering from a very serious illness to hospital appointments.

She already had six penalty points on her licence. The additional six brought her total to 12, resulting in a six-month driving disqualification in October 2014 and a requirement to surrender her driving licence.

Represented by Michéal P Ó Higgins SC, she argued that a technical loophole meant the additional points and subsequent disqualification should be quashed. It was submitted that the failure to properly commence relevant legislation of 2010 rendered the endorsement and points null and void. Counsel said the loophole had been accepted and that the Minister for Transport was to take steps in the coming days to correct the issue retrospectively.

The action was against the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Road Safety Authority. The matter was returned to the following month.