The disqualification of drivers and the enforcement of the various provisions is a shared responsibility of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána and my Department. Given the number of bodies involved, and the integration of various IT systems, finalisation of the technical solution has taken a little longer than originally envisaged. In addition, the nature of the data being shared has required appropriate due diligence on both the legal and data protection governance arrangements required to be put in place. This has required a number of engagements between officials in all the organisations, with the Data Protection Officers of same; and the signature of the President of the District Court on the data sharing agreement itself.
I can however confirm that the proposed solution to automate the current manual process for sending notifications of driver disqualification court orders by the Court Services to my Department’s National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) has now been developed. All governance arrangements have also been completed. The new solution is currently in the final stage of testing, and pending successful conclusion of that stage of the project, we would envisage the new solution being live by the end of the current quarter.