Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 416: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has plans to introduce tachographs or black box type technology into passenger vehicles operated by public and private bus operators. [23904/05]

Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Tachograph recording equipment in passenger vehicles is regulated under the Council Regulations (EEC) No. 3820/85 and Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3821/85 and also S.I. No. 392 and 393 of 1986. These regulations are enforced in respect of buses with a seating capacity of more than 17 persons, including the driver. There are, however, a number of exemptions under both EU regulations, including an exemption for buses on routes which do not exceed 50 kilometres.

The basic EU rules provide that: after four and a half hours of driving, a driver must take a break of at least 45 minutes; a daily driving period shall not exceed nine hours but may be extended twice in any one week to a maximum of ten hours; in each period of 24 hours, a driver must have a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours and after six days driving, a driver must observe a weekly rest period of 45 hours.

Tachograph paper based record sheets are used daily by the driver and these record the hours driven, breaks and rest periods. These record sheets are inspected on a regular basis by inspectors from my Department. The enforcement occurs at the premises of operators and at roadside checks. Both operators and drivers have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the regulations and both are prosecuted in the case of non-compliance on drivers' hours.

Passenger vehicles that do not come within the scope of the above regulations are covered by section 114 of the Road Transport Act 1961, No. 24 of 1961, and also article 15 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations 1963, S.I. No. 191 of 1963, applies. These regulations are enforced by the Garda and provide that: a driver shall observe a break of 30 minutes after five and a half hours of driving; it prescribes a driving time of 11 hours and a rest period of ten hours in each period of 24 hours and the regulations of 1963 state that a driver shall observe a weekly rest period of 24 hours after each period of seven days driving.

The phasing out of analogue tachographs will commence later in the year, to be replaced by digital tachographs which will involve the issue of personalised smart cards to all drivers to replace paper based record sheets.