Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The convention will come into place when all signatory member states have ratified it. It allows for member states to move ahead with bilateral arrangements if the opportunity presents itself as it did to us and the Northern Ireland authorities. This was discussed at a recent British-Irish Council meeting and several Ministers agreed with it. We have also been to the fore at European level in the recognition of these issues, particularly the recognition of penalty points on a European basis. It is the logical way to go and will provide the best results for road safety.

In this jurisdiction many advances have been made in the past two years with road and signage quality. Similar road signage and so on would be helpful to all drivers on the island. Currently it is difficult for drivers coming from Northern Ireland into the Republic and vice versa. Road safety strikes me as an issue that could be dealt with on an all-island basis. It would have a good impact on road safety for the benefit of all drivers.

We have moved with our counterparts in Northern Ireland on a bilateral arrangement. There are, however, three different systems between the jurisdictions. It was agreed that the best method would be to have a harmonised approach rather than matching one system up with another and unscrambling an existing one. The Northern Ireland Office is the lead party in the British-Irish Council on this and it is working through a system. It keeps in touch with departmental officials and has a timeframe to report back early next year at the next British-Irish Council meeting.

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