Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The issue of cross-Border enforcement for road traffic offences has proved to be a difficult one over the years. Given the variety and complexity of the legal systems in different states, the development of a common approach, whether bilaterally between two states or at an EU level, has always proved extremely difficult. The key issue is how to enforce penalties outside the jurisdiction, that is, when non-resident drivers have returned home.

The mutual recognition of penalty points between ourselves and the United Kingdom is being pursued under the auspices of the British-Irish Council, BIC, and for which Northern Ireland has the lead role.

As separate penalty point systems operate not only in the two jurisdictions on this island, but also between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, this is a much more complex legal and administrative issue than the mutual recognition of driver disqualifications, work on which is nearing completion. Mutual recognition of penalty points will require the passage of primary legislation in both jurisdictions in due course. A feasibility study on areas of possible co-operation in this area was commissioned by the UK Department for Transport, with our agreement and that of our Northern Ireland colleagues. The consultants' final report was published on the UK Department for Transport's website last summer and the next step is to develop a joint programme to achieve mutual recognition of penalty points between the three jurisdictions.

Our commitment to this was reaffirmed at the recent meeting of the North-South Transport Council in April, but all recognise that it is a complex and long-term issue. It is also my view that experience on the operation of mutual recognition of driver disqualifications, which is currently being finalised, will be invaluable in addressing the penalty point project.

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