Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate this is a very important issue and an issue of great concern to thousands of people who cross the Border every day in their cars, whether it is roughly 10,000 cross-Border workers going from North to South or South to North, whether it is students or just people passing through Northern Ireland on their way to and from Donegal, for example. It is an issue that the Government is aware of. It is one that we are is trying to ensure is resolved before 29 March. The position is, of course, different in the two jurisdictions. If there is a no-deal scenario on 29 March, Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, will no longer be covered by the EU motor insurance directive. We will because we will still be in the European Union. There will be differences depending on individual policies. However, I am informed that the vast majority of the insurance policies which people hold cover the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, but they will need proof of that, which is in the form of a green card.

South of the Border in this State, while motorists are required to have a green card as proof of insurance, it is not an offence not to have one. There will be a grace period for people who are based in Northern Ireland and coming south and have insurance but not a green card. We cannot make a commitment on behalf of the Government in Northern Ireland, because there is not one, and we cannot make commitments on behalf of the UK Government. For people entering this jurisdiction, as long as their insurance policies cover them for this State, even if they do not have a green card on 30 March or 1 or 2 April, they will not be prosecuted for it. There will be grace period for that reason.

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