Vol. 405 No. 3
19 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the level of new car registrations to date in 1991; and if he will outline the extent to which this represents an increase or decrease on the level of new car registrations in the equivalent period in 1990.
October 1990 is the latest period for which this information is available.
In October 1990 the number of new cars registered for the first time was 4,377. This represented an increase of 84 over the October 1989 figure. For the period January to October 1990 some 79,040 new cars were registered for the first time. This is 5,347 more than in the corresponding period in 1989.
Why is information not available for the early part of 1991?
The latest figure I have is for October 1990.
Surely information on car registrations is readily available at the end of any month and should be accessible to this House within 24 hours of the month end, given that there are computer links between the registration and tax offices and the CSO.
The position is as I have outlined. That has been the situation for many years. We are talking in terms of just three months ago.
Are the CSO aware of the existence of computers and the capacity to assemble and transmit information from one computer to another and from one part of the country to another? Have the Central Statistics Office discovered this yet and if so, why cannot they have the information available within days rather than months?
That is a separate question.
Is the Minister of State aware that information of this kind available five months later is not particularly useful? It is only useful if it is immediately available to give an early indication of economic trends. Why are the CSO unable to assemble information with regard to motor car registrations within days of the end of any accounting period such as a month?
Was the Minister expecting a car himself?
I am very much aware of the modern advantages of technology. The information I have given to the House is three months old, not five.
Three months is too long.
Does the Minister share my anxiety about the increased number of cars on the roads without registration identification? If so, will he ask the Government to take appropriate steps to eliminate the problem?
Let us deal with the question before us.
I find it remarkable that the Minister could not respond to a specific question. I would be glad to give the Minister the information in relation to 1991 and to compare it to 1990. The Minister will discover that new car registrations are down considerably, and he knows the reasons.
I repeat that the number of new cars registered increased by 5,347 to the end of last October.
The Minister did not answer the question.
