Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 151: To ask the Minister for Finance the position on full Irish participation in EUCARIS; the reason Ireland is not a full participant; and his proposals to become full participants in the near future. [8749/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium negotiated a treaty some years back to facilitate the exchange of driver and vehicle registration information between the participants through an electronic system, known as EUCARIS. The treaty has quite a narrow scope and its aim is to identify and prevent international trade in stolen vehicles and to identify stolen and fraudulent driving licences within the treaty area. To date, three of the five founding countries, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, have ratified the treaty. Until one more of the original five countries ratifies the treaty, it is not open to other countries to accede and accordingly the question of full participation by Ireland does not arise at present.

In the meantime, the Revenue Commissioners, responsible for vehicle registration, have observer status and are following the work closely. The Revenue Commissioners are taking account of the structures established in accordance with the provisions of Council Decision 2004/919/EC on tackling vehicle crime with cross-border implications, which was adopted during the Irish Presidency of the EU; the existing mutual assistance provisions which already provide very significant exchange of information procedures; and the existing structures in EUROPOL and INTERPOL, whose specific stolen vehicle database is used extensively by the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners will consider in due course, in consultation with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, whether extra advantages are to be gained by full participation in the EUCARIS.