Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am replying to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, who could not be present and conveys his apologies.

I welcome the Deputy's intentions in raising this important issue. While the offence of taking a vehicle without the lawful authority of the owner is provided for in section 112 of the Road Traffic Act 1961, matters relating to the investigation and consequent recovery of stolen vehicles are a matter for An Garda Síochána. As the Deputy indicated, this issue comes within the remit of two Departments.

Setting aside any civil libertarian or data protection considerations related to statutorily providing for the fitting of such tracking devices to motor vehicles, from a vehicle standards perspective, the Minister is not aware of any European Union proposals mandating the fitting of location tracking devices for the specific purpose of tracking stolen vehicles. European regulations set out the type approval requirements for member states to adopt, so that no member state may impose any additional requirements that would present a barrier to the cross-border trade in motor vehicles in the European Union.

While such tracking devices are currently available for purchase by individual car owners for fitting to their vehicles, the choice to purchase and use such a device is entirely a matter for the individual citizen. To legislate for the fitting of such devices would require that the appropriate standards, testing and verification procedures, as well as the enforcement of a failure to fit such a device, would have to be carefully determined. In essence, providing for a legal requirement to fit such a tracking device would also involve making the failure to fit such a device a criminal offence.

The Minister's primary function in respect of road traffic is to promote and ensure that the most appropriate and best practice road safety and vehicle engineering safety standards are implemented in order that any potential road traffic collisions and consequent injuries and fatalities on Ireland's road network are reduced. Given the primary remit of the Minister and Road Safety Authority in promoting road safety and the necessity to meet EU type approval requirements for vehicle standards, the Minister has no proposals to introduce regulations mandating the fitting of locations tracking devices in order to track stolen vehicles.

The Deputy raised an interesting example and this technology would have benefits across many Departments. I will convey his idea to the Ministers for Justice and Equality and Transport, Tourism and Sport. It may be possible to raise this matter at European level. I will join the Ministers for Transport, Tourism and Sport and Environment, Community and Local Government in meeting the Commissioner with responsibility for the competition agenda next week. The recent issue concerning Volkswagen will be discussed at the meeting. I will raise the matter at the meeting and I would be pleased to pursue or investigate it at European level. If such a step were to be taken, it would have to be done at European level.

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