Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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286. To ask the Minister for Finance to outline the regulations, standards or oversight mechanisms in place regarding the allocation and printing of registration plates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56604/25]

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Finance the controls or regulations in place to ensure that vehicle registration plates can only be printed or supplied by authorised providers, and that each plate issued is properly linked to a registered vehicle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56605/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 286 and 287 together.

Chapter IV of Part II of the Finance Act 1992 provides for the registration of vehicles, the charging of vehicle registration tax and the assignment of a unique identification mark to each vehicle upon registration. The Vehicle Regulation and Taxation Regulations, 1992 (as amended), set out the detailed requirements for the format of vehicle registration plates. Certain characteristics of Irish plates are aligned with other countries across the EU through conformity with Council Regulation (EC) 2411/98 and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.

The National Car Test (NCT) includes checks on the security, location, format, legibility, visibility, and colour of a vehicle’s registration plates. Non-compliance with any prescribed vehicle registration plate requirement is recorded as a “major defect” under the NCT, and a vehicle displaying non-compliant registration plates will fail an NCT test until the issue is fixed.

It is an offence to display a false registration number, the wrong registration number on a vehicle, or the registration plate in an incorrect format. Revenue and An Garda Síochána actively collaborate to tackle vehicle registration offences, which include regular engagement on multiagency checkpoints. These joint efforts aim to ensure compliance with vehicle registration legislation and deter illegal activities.

The Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 extends number plate enforcement powers to officers of the Revenue Commissioners to include the issuing of Fixed Charge Notices. These measures will be commenced as soon as the necessary operational preparations have been completed by Revenue in conjunction with other agencies, and work is ongoing in that regard.

The manufacture or printing of registration plates is not specifically regulated. The potential of addressing the problem of the use of false registration plates through a regulatory regime for the production and supply of plates was considered previously. It was concluded that such controls would not be effective given the relative simplicity and widespread availability of technology that could be used to manufacture such items.