Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Transport when he will legislate for the compulsory fitting of cyclops mirrors on all heavy good vehicles. [12676/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Under The Road Safety Authority Act 2006 (Conferral of Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 477 of 2006) the Road Safety Authority is now responsible for vehicle standards.

In October 2006, the European Commission published a proposal for a directive to require existing HGVs to be retrofitted with enhanced mirrors on their passenger side to improve the lateral field of indirect vision of drivers. At a meeting of the EU Transport Ministers in December 2006 the Transport Council reached agreement on a general approach to the draft directive. Essentially, the approach involves requiring HGVs registered since 1 January 2000 to be retrofitted with the enhanced mirrors within three years of the directive coming into force. Also at the Council, in response to requests from a number of Member States, including Ireland, to include in the proposals measures to address the blind spot to the front of existing HGVs, the Transport Commissioner indicated that the European Commission would undertake a study of this particular matter.

I understand that the Road Safety Authority will await the outcome of the Commission's further consideration of this matter and that of the European Parliament in relation to the retrofitting proposals before proceeding further with the development of national measures in relation to the retrofitting of mirrors to existing HGVs. The Authority will be pressing for the Commission and the Parliament to conclude its work as quickly as possible.