Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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283. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department is liaising with insurance industry representatives to ensure the timely commencement of insurance related provisions of the Road Traffic And Roads Act 2023 that will give insurers access to real time data on driver disqualifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15175/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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284. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department is liaising with Gardaí to ensure the timely commencement of insurance-related provisions of the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15176/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 284 together.

The Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 was signed into law by the President on 23 June 2023. It is a wide-ranging Act and is being commenced in stages. The Act included several important insurance related provisions, including provisions relating to the Irish Motor Insurance Database which is operated by the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).

My Department has liaised extensively with An Garda Síochána, insurance industry representatives and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the timely commencement of provisions relating to insurance. The provisions have been commenced in a number of tranches as it is necessary in the case of certain elements of the Act, for preparatory work to be done by the Department, various agencies or the insurance industry before the legislation can be implemented.

A commencement order for section 14(c) of the 2023 Act came into effect on 1 October 2024 under S.I. 497/2024 and amends section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 2014. Section 5 of the 2014 Act provides for vehicle insurers to be able to view endorsements (penalty points) on a person’s driving licence record when issuing or renewing policies, this includes driving disqualifications.

Additionally, members of An Garda Síochána have access to the MIBI app, which provides a vehicle's or driver's insurance information. This was introduced under section 5(o) of the 2023 Act which inserted a new section 78A into the Road Traffic Act 1961. This allows Gardaí to identify uninsured drivers and increases road safety for all road users.

My Department will continue to liaise with An Garda Síochána and representatives from the insurance industry on relevant legislative matters. A coordinated approach is necessary to ensure the timely and effective implementation of provisions.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe for the driver file record database to hold all the necessary details, including the unique driver number of all drivers disqualified, for Gardaí and motor insurers to access that data in real time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15177/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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289. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to Parliamentary Question No. 285 of 19 March 2025, if the updated information that An Garda Siochana receive on a daily basis on named drivers includes the unique driver number of each driver named on a policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15202/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 285 and 289 together.

My Department holds the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) which records driver licence data for all drivers in the state, including driver number and disqualification status.

An Garda Síochána receive a nightly file from my Department which, from March 2025, will include the disqualification status of every driving licence. These data are used by frontline Gardaí on mobility devices at the roadside.

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) is responsible for the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) which contains details of all vehicles and drivers who hold policies of motor insurance. From 31 March 2025 IMID will include driver numbers collected by those issuing motor insurance policies and verified against my Department’s NVDF database. The data (which include driver number) from IMID is transferred nightly to An Garda Síochána for their use on mobility devices.

Motor insurers will not have access to real-time data on driver disqualifications from the NVDF 31 March 2025 as this will require IT changes both in my Department and in the many insurer and broker IT platforms. This also means that the nightly data feed from IMID to An Garda Síochána will not contain disqualification information. However, as stated above An Garda Síochána have access to this information directly from my Department.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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286. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of court disqualifications each year from 2020 to 2024; the number of disqualifications that could not be matched to the appropriate record; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15178/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Driving disqualification court order information is sent electronically from the Courts Service to my Department. This information is then endorsed on driver records on the Department's National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF).

If a court order cannot be matched automatically against an Irish driver record, the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS), operated by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) undertake a manual search to attempt to match the record. In the event that a match cannot be found, a ‘shell’ record is created on the NVDF to track the court order.

It is important to note that some disqualifications are imposed on drivers who do not hold (or may never have held) an Irish licence or drivers who hold foreign licences. Therefore, due to cases like these, it will never be the case that all disqualifications orders will have an NVDF record to be matched to.

It is also the case that some disqualifications are imposed on Irish licence holders, but it is not possible to match these to the appropriate driver record. As the Garda Inspectorate Report explains, the primary cause for this is the failure of the individual to produce their driving licence in court. This matter is the responsibility of An Garda Siochana, the Department of Justice and the Courts Service, but my Department will be supportive of any measures address the issue as it will improve our subsequent ability to match court orders to driver records.

The number of distinct driver records, including shell records, that had driving disqualifications imposed based on court orders received from the Courts Service every year from 2020 to 2024 is as follows. As noted above, the shell records include foreign licenced drivers, unlicenced drivers and Irish-licenced drivers where a match has not been made. Please note that some driver records, including shell records, have had multiple disqualifications; the figures represent the number of drivers disqualified.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the proposed timeframe for the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2024 to be passed into law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15180/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The General Schemes of the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2024 and the Roads Bill 2024 were both approved by Government in July 2024. However, they did not progress during the autumn 2024 legislative term in advance of the General Election.

In line with the Programme for Government, the provisions of the two Bills have now been amalgamated into a revised National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2025. A revised General Scheme will be presented to Government for approval to draft in the coming weeks. If approved by Government, the Bill will then be sent to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.

Timelines thereafter will be subject to Oireachtas scheduling, but the Government has made clear its commitment to enact the Bill and progress the provisions therein as a priority.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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288. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to Parliamentary Question No. 284 of 19 March 2025, the number of motor insurers and brokers registered with the Central Bank of Ireland and an organisation (details supplied); the number that have successfully applied and signed the data sharing agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15201/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Twenty six (26) motor insurers or intermediaries with sanction from motor insurers registered with the Central Bank of Ireland and/or the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland have successfully applied for access to my Department's National Vehicle and Driver file for driver number verification and have signed the data sharing agreement. There are no motor insurers or intermediaries who have not signed that my Department is aware of.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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290. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if all necessary data-sharing agreements and the relevant contracts have been agreed and signed, to provide the motor insurance industry and Gardaí with real time data on driver disqualifications, under the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15203/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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All relevant data sharing agreements and contracts are in place with motor insurers, and intermediaries acting on their behalf for driver number verification and the sharing of endorsement and disqualification data between these insurance industry partners and my Department's National Vehicle and Driver File. Motor insurers will not have access to real-time data on driver disqualifications from 31 March 2025 as this will require IT changes both in my Department and in the many insurer and broker IT platforms.

However, the Courts Service informs my Department of disqualifications to be endorsed on driving licences via a weekly file. An Garda Síochána receive a nightly file from my Department which, from March 2025, will include the disqualification status of every driving licence. This can be used by frontline Gardaí on mobility devices at the roadside.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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291. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe for his Department to make the necessary changes to its ICT system to allow motor insurers access real time driver disqualification data, under the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023; the reason for the delays to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15204/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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A timeline for these projects will have to be jointly agreed between my Department and the insurance industry. Currently my officials work with the relevant insurance partners through both an IMID project board and an operational liaison group. These groups will be the forum for agreeing these timelines.

It should be noted that the Courts Service informs my Department of disqualifications to be endorsed on driving licences via a weekly file. An Garda Síochána receive a nightly file from my Department which, from March 2025, will include the disqualification status of every driving licence. This can be used by frontline Gardaí on mobility devices at the roadside.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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292. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe for organisations (details supplied) to make the necessary changes to their ICT systems that are required for access to his Departments driver file database to real time data on driver disqualifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15205/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) are responsible for the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID). Insurers and intermediaries acting on their behalf will in the future access disqualification information from my Department's National Vehicle and Driver File, which can then be written by insurers and intermediaries to the IMID hosted by MIBI. Access to real-time data on driver disqualifications by insurers will require IT changes both in my Department and in the many insurer and broker IT platforms.

A timeline for these projects will have to be jointly agreed between my Department and the insurance industry. Currently my officials work with the relevant insurance partners through both an IMID project board and an operational liaison group. These groups will be the forum for agreeing these timelines.

It should be noted that the Courts Service informs my Department of disqualifications to be endorsed on driving licences via a weekly file. An Garda Síochána receive a nightly file from my Department which, from March 2025, will include the disqualification status of every driving licence. This can be used by frontline Gardaí on mobility devices at the roadside.