Martin Cullen has conceded that not all of the 49 drivers who have so far amassed 12 penalty points have surrendered their licences to the authorities. The minister also admitted that all gardai can do is "simply wait to stop and catch" those who should not be driving due to the penalty points system.

Under the current system, it is down to the local authority to notify a driver who has accumulated 12 penalty points. The driver is then requested to surrender their licence to the gardai in order for them to enforce a six-month driving ban.

However, while saying that "the vast majority" of those disqualified have surrendered their licences, the minister conceded that "there may be instances where people abuse the system".

The transport minister has called for the gardai to be given more power to enforce the penalty points system. There are currently four offences covered by penalty points, although a further 31 offences are due to be added this summer. Opposition parties have claimed that the system will not be capable of handling the increase in offences.

"Due to the fact that the national driver file is now available to the gardai, I believe that gardai should do more than simply wait to stop and catch people on the side of the road and then check out the information, " Cullen said.

"The system should be much more proactive. It should not simply be a matter of the gardai stopping people on the side of the road and checking whether there is a problem with his or her driving licence when the information goes back into the system."

According to Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell, the system will be unable to cope with the expansion of penalty point offences. Mitchell has called for the penalty points system to be streamlined into one body.

At the moment several bodies, including local authorities, the Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment are involved.

"Drivers are requested to surrender their licence but there is no follow-up to ensure that they do so, " she said.

"When the extra offences are added, people will reach disqualification much quicker. If this system is to be taken seriously, we need to be enforcing it. At the moment, that is not happening."

Since the penalty point system was introduced in 2002, more than 300,000 drivers have had points added to their licences.

Just 49 drivers, however, have reached the 12 points that results in a six-month suspension from driving.