Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will address the amendments very briefly. Deputy Munster's amendment is almost identical to my amendment. The substance of it is already covered in the amendments I am proposing, which are more wide-ranging in various areas. Section 78A of the Road Traffic Act 1961 requires motor insurers to provide details regarding insurance policies to the Garda, the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland and the Minister. The difficulty with section 78A is that it does not specify what details are covered. In section 19 of the Road Transport Bill 2016, I am setting out a list of the details to be provided by insurers and I intend at this point to make a number of amendments to the section. I am proposing to replace the words "unique identification mark" with "vehicle registration number". It was always my intention that the vehicle registration number would be provided but it has been drawn to my attention that the phrase "unique identification mark" could be interpreted as either the registration number or the vehicle identification number. I am now proposing to change the wording to remove the ambiguity. The current list of details to be provided by insurers consists of six items labelled (a) to (f). I am proposing to add a seventh, namely, the licence or learner permit number of the policyholder and any named drivers. This is a crucial piece of information in ensuring that records provided by insurers can be matched correctly to drivers. As a consequence of this amendment, I am also proposing to remove the word "and" from the end of subsection (e) and add it to the end of subsection (f).