Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Road Safety Strategy 2013-20 includes a review of the existing legislation to control the re-introduction of written-off vehicles which are no longer suitable for use on public roads and to control the repair and re-use of vehicles written off for financial purposes. The Road Safety Authority, RSA, carried out a public consultation on the issue, following which draft provisions were developed for consideration. Due to the complexity of the issues involved, the Department, working together with the RSA, agreed that legislation could only be progressed following legal advice and careful examination of how robust and effective any measures would be. I am of the view that enabling legislation to provide for the regulation of written-off vehicles is an issue which requires action in the current Road Traffic Bill. This Bill has passed all Stages in the Seanad and is due to be introduced in the Dáil. The Deputy will be aware of the "Prime Time" programme which covered this issue in the past eight or nine weeks and which gave a fairly shocking exposure of what is going on in this area.

The Government agreed on 13 July with my proposal to legislate for the regulation of written-off vehicles by placing certain statutory obligations, accompanied by appropriate and proportionate sanctions, on both vehicle insurers and the importers of such vehicles. The statutory regime envisaged will build upon existing voluntary administrative arrangements in place between the Department and the insurance industry.

​It should be noted that there is already relevant legislation in place in both road traffic and consumer protection law dealing with such vehicles. It is currently an offence to drive a dangerously defective vehicle in a public place under road traffic legislation, while under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 car dealers are obliged to give full disclosure of the history of a second-hand vehicle to potential buyers. Also, under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980, a vehicle being sold should be free from any defect which would render it a danger to the public.

The prosecution of alleged offences under consumer protection legislation relating to the sale of second-hand vehicles is a matter for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which is under the remit of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

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