Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The fifth motor insurance directive, No. 2005/14/EC, in regard to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles was adopted on 11 May 2005. The directive amends and expands on the previous four motor insurance directives. The fifth directive must be implemented by 11 June 2007. It requires each member state to establish a national motor insurance information centre. The purpose of the information centre is to make available, on request, insurance and other details to involved parties in the event of a motor traffic accident. Persons involved in accidents will therefore have a means to confirm the insurance and vehicle details of other parties to the accident.

The fourth motor insurance directive already requires the establishment of an information centre to provide details of insurance and vehicle ownership in the case of accidents involving foreign registered vehicle which occur in this country. The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland currently discharges this function and provides this information by accessing the national vehicle file maintained by the vehicle registration unit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The fifth directive therefore extends the requirements of the fourth directive to cover all motor traffic accidents, irrespective of where the vehicles are registered.

My Department, with the assistance of the Irish Insurance Federation, commissioned preliminary studies into the establishment of the expanded national information centre. The consultants, Aspen Connect and Tekenable, have proposed a technical solution to enable the necessary information to be accessible to the information centre on request.

My Department has primary responsibility for the establishment of the information centre and discussions have taken place with the insurance industry and with the Vehicle Registration Office of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in that regard. Over the coming months, it is planned to run a pilot project before full implementation, with a view to having the information centre in operation by June 2007. The funding requirements have yet to be determined.

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