Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

On the last question posed by Deputy Broughan, I am not sure if I reported to the House since I met my counterpart in the United Kingdom. We have since met at the North-South Ministerial Council. The matter was discussed at each of those meetings. A tripartite meeting with my counterpart in the United Kingdom, Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick, and Ms Arlene Foster will probably take place in early April to finalise the timescale.

In the context of a new road traffic Bill, the suggestions the Courts Service has made which have been reiterated by Deputy O'Dowd will be considered. There may be a difficulty posed by a person's constitutional right to go to court. We must look at this issue.

On the point made about the use of licence numbers, I am in favour of any system that will get us to a position where the maximum information can be obtained. The legislation should be in place in order that driving licence numbers, PPS numbers and so on can be used across systems for these purposes. Obviously, that is not within my direct remit but the issue needs to be discussed and finalised. It would help to streamline systems.

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