Ms Liz O'Donnell:

On the Exchequer allocation to the authority, a contingency of €3.37 million was available this year but it has not been drawn down. This means that at last the Road Safety Authority has become self-financing.

Its financing comes from the provision of demand-driven services, the national car testing regime and the driver licensing system. The authority's remit is very broad and includes road safety awareness and education, driver testing, and vehicle standards and related matters. Requirements regarding driving hours and rest periods, and the use of tachographs, also come within its remit, as well as the application of the working time directive in the road transport sector. The authority is also involved in bus and truck driver vocational training, enforcement issues relating to bus operator and road haulage operator licensing, commercial vehicle standards, and statistical data collection and research functions. All of these are in addition to the NCT system. The RSA is charging fees for all of these services and that is how it has become self-financing.