Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 666: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the impact the proposed changes to European legislation will have on motorcyclists here, as well as the resulting cost implications for users; his views that safety will actually be improved by the requirements regarding professional bike servicing in view of the specialist expertise of many motorcyclists [27566/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Proposed new Regulations regarding motorcycle standards are under discussion in the EU at present. I am informed that the proposed Regulations relate only to vehicle standards, not to the vehicle's use or the driver,and specify the standards to be applied to new motorcycles. It presents a legal framework for the type approval and market surveillance of mopeds, motorcycles and quads, which will replace the existing Framework Directive 2002/24/EC.

The proposed Regulations are designed to improve the safety of riders, who belong to a vulnerable road user group and who account for the highest fatality and injury rates among all road users. The Regulations also are anticipated to result in reduced vehicle emissions for these types of vehicles, which currently are not reducing in line with other road vehicles such as cars, buses and goods vehicles.

The draft proposals relate, in the main, to improvements in vehicle safety, reduced emissions, easier access to repair/maintenance information and simplification of the type approval process. Given that the draft proposals have yet to be finalised, it is not possible to assess the cost implications, if any, with dependable accuracy.

The Road Safety Authority has recently published detailed information on the proposals on their website and is inviting feedback before the end of October.