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A fixed charge notice in Ireland: pay, nominate the driver, or go to court
Checked 15 Oct 2026the Road Traffic Acts, the Criminal Justice Acts and the District Court Rules as amended.
A fixed charge notice gives 28 days to pay, a further 28 days at the charge plus 50%, then a summons. Nomination, the cancellation grounds, the court route, and whether paying is a conviction.
Written for the person who has to go to court. This guide covers the District Court of the Republic of Ireland.
What a fixed charge notice is
A fixed charge notice is the Garda's offer to end a minor road traffic matter without court. Under Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 2010, the notice sets out the offence, the charge, the penalty points that go with payment, and the dates by which you can pay. Pay in time and the matter is closed: no summons, no court, no conviction.
The notice arrives in one of two ways. A garda who stops you may issue it at the roadside, or hand it to you later. A camera van, a speed camera or a bus-lane camera generates a notice that is posted to the registered owner of the vehicle, which is why the person who gets the envelope is not always the person who was driving.
In 2025 the Garda issued about 169,000 notices for speeding and about 24,500 for holding a mobile phone, and those are the two offences that bring most people to this page.
The three windows
The notice is a clock with three positions. The fixed charge notice clock turns the date on your notice into the three dates below.
| Window | When | What you pay | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 28 days from the date on the notice | The fixed charge | The fixed-charge points |
| Second | A further 28 days | The charge plus 50% | The fixed-charge points |
| Third (after a summons) | Up to 7 days before the court date | Double the original charge | The fixed-charge points |
| Court | On the court date | A fine the court fixes | The higher points on conviction |
After the second window closes with nothing paid, the Garda apply for a summons. Once it issues, section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 gives a third chance: pay double the original charge up to seven days before the court date and the prosecution ends with the fixed-charge points rather than the court's. The guide to the third payment option covers it in detail, including the 10,902 people who used it in 2025.
The charges and points for the common offences are:
| Offence | Charge | Points on payment | Points on conviction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speeding | €160 | 3 | 5 |
| Holding a mobile phone while driving | €120 | 3 | 5 |
| No NCT certificate | €60 | 3 | 5 |
| Driver not wearing a seatbelt | €120 | 3 | 5 |
| Learner driving unaccompanied | €160 | 2 | 4 |
| Careless driving (no collision) | €80 | 2 | 4 |
| No motor tax displayed | €60 | 0 | 0 |
The full table, including the offences that have never been fixed charge matters, is in the list of penalty points and fixed charges. Driving without insurance, dangerous driving and drink driving are court-only offences; a fixed charge notice is never offered for them.
Paying
The notice says where to pay. The route is An Post, online or at a post office, using the notice number, and the Garda's page on paying a fixed charge notice explains it. Keep the receipt or the confirmation email with the notice.
Payment is the end of the prosecution, but not the end of the points. Under the Road Traffic Act 2002 as amended, the points are endorsed on your licence record 28 days after the notice of endorsement reaches you, and they stay for three years from that date. Twelve points within any three-year period bring six months off the road; seven for a learner or a novice driver in the first two years of a full licence. The penalty points calculator adds the new points to what you already have and tells you the date each block expires.
Insurers ask about points at renewal. A false answer can void the policy.
Nominating the driver
If you were not driving, the notice tells you how to say so. The registered owner nominates the driver, by name and address, within the first 28 days. A fresh notice then issues to that person and the clock starts again for them. Nominate honestly: naming someone who was not driving is an offence in itself, and the vehicle owner who fails to nominate when they could have stays liable for the notice.
A company that owns the vehicle nominates in the same way. A driver of a hired car is identified through the hire company.
The Garda's cancellation grounds
The Garda cancel a notice only on listed grounds. The page on fixed charge notice cancellation requests sets them out: a genuine emergency, a medical reason, a mistaken vehicle, a stolen plate or a stolen vehicle, and a statutory exemption such as an emergency vehicle on duty. The request goes in writing, with the evidence, to the Fixed Charge Processing Office within the time on the notice.
Disagreeing with the offence is not a ground. "I was not going that fast" or "I did not see the sign" are not cancellation reasons; they are a defence to be heard in court on a plea of not guilty. The guide to contesting a fixed charge notice is honest about how that goes.
Not received, and how long it takes to arrive
Two questions people type together: "how long does it take for a fixed charge notice to arrive" and "fixed charge notice not received".
The Garda do not publish a fixed period between the offence and the notice. A camera notice has to be matched to the registration first, then posted. Most arrive within a few weeks; some take longer. The 28 days run from the date printed on the notice, not from the date of the offence, so a slow notice does not eat into your time.
If a notice went to an old address, the first thing you hear of it may be a summons. That is not fatal. The third payment option is normally offered with the summons, and if you want to contest the matter the court can hear that the notice never reached you. What you cannot do is get the first window back once it has passed. Keep the address on the vehicle's registration current, and the address on your licence at the NDLS.
The scam texts
A text or an email saying you have an unpaid fine, with a link to pay, is not from the Garda. The Garda do not send payment links. A genuine notice is a paper document posted to the registered owner, with a notice number, and the only payment route is the one printed on it. Do not enter card details on a link from a message. If you are unsure whether a notice exists, ring the Fixed Charge Processing Office on the number on the Garda's own site, or your local station.
The court route
If nothing is paid, and the third option is not taken, the summons brings you to the District Court for the area where the offence happened. The garda or the camera operator gives evidence; you can plead guilty or not guilty.
What changes in court:
- The points go up. Three on payment becomes five on conviction for speeding, a phone, a seatbelt or no NCT. Two becomes four for an unaccompanied learner or careless driving.
- The charge becomes a fine. The court fixes it under the Fines Act 2010, taking your means into account, and it can be more than the fixed charge.
- There is a conviction. It is a minor motoring conviction, which does not count towards the one-conviction limit under the spent convictions Act, but it is on your record and insurers ask about it.
- Costs and time. A day in court, often an adjournment, and a median of 182 days from summons to disposal in 2025.
In 2025 the District Court made 50,462 penalty point orders. The guide to a court summons covers the first appearance, and speeding covers the court's options for the commonest offence.
Nothing in this guide is a way round the notice. The lawful routes are to pay, to nominate the person who was driving, to ask for cancellation on a listed ground, to take the third option, or to plead not guilty and let the court decide.
Where this leaves you
Put the date on the notice into the fixed charge notice clock: it gives you the three dates and shows the points either way. If the matter has reached a summons and you cannot afford a solicitor, you can ask the judge for legal aid at your first appearance, though for a fixed charge offence the gravity test is rarely met; /legal-aid explains both tests. /solicitor explains how to find a solicitor if the summons carries more than one charge or you intend to contest it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a fixed charge notice to arrive?
The Garda do not publish a fixed period. A notice from a camera van or a speed camera is posted to the registered owner's address once the vehicle has been identified, and most arrive within a few weeks. The 28-day clock runs from the date on the notice, not from the day of the offence, so a late notice does not shorten your time to pay.
Is a fixed charge notice a criminal conviction?
No. Paying within the windows ends the matter without a court appearance or a conviction. The penalty points for the offence are still endorsed on your licence record and last three years. A conviction only arises if the notice is not paid and the court finds the offence proved.
What if I never received the fixed charge notice?
The notice goes to the address on the vehicle's registration. If it did not reach you, the next thing to arrive is usually a summons. At that point the third payment option is normally offered, at double the original charge up to seven days before the court date, and the court can also hear that the notice was not received. Keep the vehicle's registered address up to date.
Can I appeal a fixed charge notice?
There is no appeal as such. The Garda can cancel a notice on listed grounds, such as an emergency, a medical reason, a mistaken vehicle, a stolen plate or a statutory exemption. Disagreeing with the offence is not a cancellation ground; the route for that is to let the summons issue and plead not guilty, where the court decides on the evidence.
Is the text message about an unpaid fine real?
The Garda do not send payment links by text or email. A genuine notice is a paper document posted to the registered owner. Pay only through the route on the notice itself, which is An Post, and report a text asking for card details as a scam.