Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the anomaly in communication from his Department in relation to tachographs (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8522/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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In January 2025 following a query, the Department of Transport contacted European Commission DG MOVE seeking clarification on the applicability of smart tachograph V2 requirements for passenger operators operating between EU and UK.In February 2025, through communication with the Commission, it is now clear that vehicles transporting passengers solely between EU, including Ireland, and the UK, including Northern Ireland, are not required to be fitted with smart tachograph v2.

Upon this clarification, the Department immediately contacted the Road Safety Authority to update the smart tachograph v2 FAQ webpage to reflect this information. Recognising the significance of the situation, on 19 February the Department notified all passenger transport operators on international licences. The Department notified the National Standards Authority of Ireland as well, and the following day the NSAI issued communications to all tachograph workshops. For the avoidance of doubt, vehicles fitted with a smart tachograph v2 are compliant, as the smart tachograph has additional functionalities and upgrades over and above the digital tachograph. Operators who may have had the smart tachograph v2 fitted to their vehicles are not required to change this or take any action at this time.

In addition, it should be emphasised that any vehicle performing passenger transport operations coming within scope of Regulation EC No. 561/2006 (i.e. carrying passengers exclusively within the EU or between the EU, Switzerland or EEA countries) are still in scope of the retrofit requirement set out in Regulation EU No. 165/2014. Additionally, if a vehicle will be used in both EU to UK (AETR) and EU to EU (Regulation EC No. 561/2006) passenger transport operations, then a retrofit is required.

The Department will engage further on this matter directly with representative bodies and operators on a case by case basis.