Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
57. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance his plans to establish a service in which persons can change their motor registration plate to their county of residence for a fee both as a possible stream of revenue and to facilitate motorists who purchased cars with plates from counties other than their own; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12230/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by Revenue that registration plates are assigned under the provisions of the Finance Act, 1992, section 131(5) and their format and use are provided for in the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations 1992, regulation 9 and First Schedule (Statutory Instrument No. 318 of 1992).
A registration number is assigned on the basis of a single number for each vehicle, for the vehicle’s life. Following registration of a vehicle by Revenue, the data is transferred to the National Vehicle Driver File, which is maintained by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. This data is used by a number of other Departments and Agencies for a range of regulatory and law enforcement purposes.
The introduction of an option to change a vehicle’s registration number during the life of the vehicle would add a whole layer of complexity and risk to a system that works effectively at present. Any proposal to introduce such an option would need to be considered by the Departments and Agencies that depend on the current, very reliable, vehicle identification system. In addition there would be considerable IT development costs to enable re-registration and to provide for the association of vehicles with a series of previous identification numbers.
I am advised by Revenue that it is satisfied that the current system provides a simple and highly effective identification system for a wide range of users and that introducing a re-registration option would be unnecessarily costly and risky.
