Mr. Liam Duggan:

We have sought our own legal advice in this regard and I do not believe we are entitled to share it. We have not specifically gone to the Information Commissioner but I remind the Deputy that the risk indicator has its origins in EU legislation. It was originally intended that the provision was to facilitate member states in targeting enforcement and was to be used for this purpose only. It is not actually an indicator of compliance per se. It just indicates to us there are operators out there who possibly need to be looked at in a more intense way and to be targeted for the purpose of inspections. It would be dangerous to disclose that information other than between ourselves and the operator concerned for data protection reasons and in terms of commercial sensitivities. We have to have regard to this because operators are entitled to have their good name with regard to how they conduct business. All member states use their risk systems for the purpose of targeting. It is not generally made available. What some countries, such as Ireland, have done is made that information available to the operators concerned so they can see for themselves where they are non-compliant and their status and give them an indicator as to why we target them as part of our normal inspection programme at the roadside and at the premises.