John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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1593. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress made regarding the establishment of a motor insurance database; when this database will be fully functioning and operational; the agency or Department which will have responsibility for its operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38198/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) will have ownership of the motor insurance database and will have responsibility for its operation.

The motor insurance database referred to is known as the Motor Third Party Liability (MTPL) insurance database. The project is to be completed in stages and Phase 1 relating to privately owned motor vehicles is currently under way. Phase 1 will provide insured and uninsured vehicle lists to An Garda Síochána based on vehicle licence plate number and insurer name. This will include providing a list of uninsured vehicles that can be loaded into the An Garda Síochána Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system. This phase has commenced initial testing with An Garda Síochána. I hope that this will assist An Garda Síochána to tackle the level of uninsured driving and so will help to reduce the cost of uninsured driving on the premiums of ordinary motorists.    

Phase 2 includes the capturing of driver licence numbers and has an expected date for its completion of Quarter 3 2020, with at that stage a target of 100% of driver licence numbers to be  made available for the MTPL database for privately owned motor vehicles, which makes up in the region of  92% of insured vehicles. This Phase will provide a more complete picture of insurance status, for example, not just on whether insurance is in place on the vehicle but also regarding who is insured to drive the vehicle. 

While I would like to see the said timelines improved upon I acknowledge the commitment of the insurance industry to deliver the MTPL insurance database project as soon as possible. In tandem with the efforts of the insurance industry, my Department will do everything possible to support the efforts of the insurance industry including as necessary through road traffic legislative measures to support the efforts of the industry in developing the database.