20,000 people dodge penalty points per year. Here's how

More than 20,000 convicted motorists failed to produce their licences in court between January 2014 and March of this year, despite it being an offence punishable by fines of up to €2,000 or three months in prison. Gardaí have not actively prosecuted the offence until now, but an operation is set to be launched in the coming days targeting penalty point dodgers. It will see officers intercepting offenders in court houses and initiating prosecutions. Garda headquarters is directing officers to pay particular attention to repeat offenders and to liaise with court clerks as part of the operation. Seven court houses will be targeted initially before the operation is rolled out nationwide.