Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the steps he will take to ensure that foreign registered drivers do not escape punishment or penalties for road traffic offences committed here. [17908/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I am conscious that enforcing penalties for road traffic offences on foreign registered drivers raises many legal, organisational and procedural issues which make it very difficult for any one State to enforce such penalties. For that reason, my Department is pursuing this question at the European, British/Irish and North/South levels where mutual recognition and cross border enforcement possibilities are under consideration.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 (Conferral of Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 477 of 2006) the Road Safety Authority has responsibility for ensuring that penalty points are endorsed on a licence record. Data in relation to penalty points is held on the National Driver File. All drivers are subject to road traffic law and it is a matter for An Garda Síochána to enforce the law. As foreign licence holders have no Irish driving licence, penalty points incurred in this State are recorded against that person on a separate record in the National Driver File.