Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has decided to change the drink driving limit; the timetable for change in the drink driving limit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32537/08]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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My colleague, Minister Dempsey, intends to bring the Heads of a Road Traffic Bill, which includes a proposed reduction in the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level for drivers, to Government for consideration very shortly. Following a decision by Government and the preparation of the necessary legislation, the implementation of reduced Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) levels for drivers will require the recalibration or replacement and subsequent recertification of the Evidential Breath Testing (EBT) machines in Garda stations and roadside breathalysers used by the Gardaí. The Medical Bureau of Road Safety, who has responsibility for the approval, supply and testing of apparatus for indicating the presence and the concentration of alcohol in breath, has estimated that this process would take into early 2010 to complete.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Transport the progress he has made on ensuring that all foreign registered vehicles and non-Irish driving licence holders are subject to the same laws, penalties, fines and toll charges as Irish registered vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32534/08]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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All drivers are subject to road traffic law and enforcement is a matter for An Garda Síochána. The realisation of any fines or penalties imposed by the Courts is a matter for the Courts Service. The enforcement on foreign registered drivers of penalties for road traffic offences is a complex legal and administrative matter for many States, and my Department is pursuing this question at European, British/Irish and North/South levels. We are working with the United Kingdom with the objective of having a bilateral agreement on mutual recognition of driving disqualifications in place early next year, under the framework of the relevant EU Convention.

The mutual recognition of penalty points is however a longer term and much more difficult matter. In particular it involves complex legal issues and will probably require the passage of primary legislation both here and in the United Kingdom in due course. While both jurisdictions are working on this, it will be some time before a bilateral agreement can be put in place on this particular issue. In the meantime, although foreign licence holders do not have an Irish driving licence record, a separate record of any penalty points incurred by them in this State is kept in the National Driver File. When the necessary arrangements are in place in relation to mutual recognition, this data will then be available for enforcement arrangements.