Vol. 423 No. 8
14 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that people disqualified from driving in courts in this State are still legally able to drive in Northern Ireland; if he intends to make representations to have all driving disqualifications made mutually recognisable both north and south; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
A person holding an Irish driving licence and disqualified from driving in the State is required by law to surrender his or her driving licence and cannot therefore, legally drive anywhere on the basis of that licence.
A visitor to this country holding a Northern Ireland licence, or a licence issued in any other country, and who is disqualified from driving in our courts, is disqualified from driving in the State but may continue to drive outside the State on the basis of that licence.
Is the Minister of State aware that this matter was raised recently by a district justice in the Dublin area who expressed concern about the law being undermined in so far as there is not recognition of the ban in both parts of the country?
I am not aware of the comments of the district justice but I know that if somebody is banned from driving in this jurisdiction the licence is withdrawn and, therefore, he or she cannot use it anywhere else. However, I am aware that a person can go to Northern Ireland and, by virtue of simply using an address there and doing a test, get a licence and drive there, which is obviously causing difficulties.
However, a proposed European Community Directive will come into effect in 1996 under which a member of the European Community will be able to hold a licence in only one member state and the member state may withdraw a licence — or refuse to grant a licence — if someone has had a licence withdrawn in another country or is the subject of restrictions in another country. The directive will improve the situation as far as the problems which the Deputy highlighted are concerned.
In addition, a working group at European level is looking at this matter — and I know there are special difficulties because of the border with Northern Ireland — but, from the point of view of this jurisdiction, we withdraw the licence when someone has been convicted and, therefore, nobody could use it in Northern Ireland. I accept that it is relatively easy to get another licence in Northern Ireland, which obviously happens in some cases. Ireland is participating in the working group which is examining the directive and I hope that, in time, the difficulties will be removed.
In the meantime, is the Minister of State saying that contact cannot be made with her counterparts in Northern Ireland to establish mutually satisfactory arrangements in regard to this matter?
Obviously it is possible for contact to be made and I will suggest it to the Minister whose responsibility it is. One of the difficulties is the fact that it is relatively easy to get a licence in Northern Ireland without establishing residence and they should be stricter in regard to whom they grant a licence so that people from the Republic cannot just use an address, do a test and get a licence to cover the period for which they are off the road here. However, I will discuss the matter with the Minister who is at a meeting of the European Council today and perhaps he will take it up with his counterparts.
One of the problems related to this question is that it is very rare for a person who has been disqualified to surrender his or her driving licence unless, perhaps, it is unwittingly produced in court and it can be seen that he or she is disqualified. The disqualification, as the Minister will appreciate, does not come into effect until 15 days after the court hearing to enable the person to appeal. Many people never surrender the driving licence and continue to use it in this State but more particularly in Northern Ireland. Will the Minister agree that co-operation is needed between the Garda and the RUC — to enable them to check on people driving in Northern Ireland with driving licences issued in the Irish Republic?
I think that giving information in this and other instances is important. However, people who do not surrender their licence are breaking the law and if they drive with that licence in Northern Ireland they are doing so illegally.
It appears that the Minister is not conceding the difficulties raised by the question because, while people might be breaking the law, nonetheless they are doing so and it is a question of the Garda and the RUC having the information to challenge such people.
It would be appropriate that information regarding disqualification of people from driving should be available to the Garda and the authorities in Northern Ireland. It is probably a matter more appropriate for the Department of Justice but I will pursue the matter.
