Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has accepted a backbencher's proposal for the introduction of technology to automatically detect road tax dodgers.
The Minister told Cecilia Keaveney (FF, Donegal North East) that he would not "pass the buck" following her suggestion that the Garda introduce a "stingray" system like the one in the North.
Mr McDowell said he would liaise with the Ministers for Transport and Environment "to attempt to ensure that technology of this kind is available to the Garda".
He said he hoped the opportunity to introduce technology, which would save valuable Garda resources, would "not be wasted for want of co-ordination between the three responsible departments".
Ms Keaveney called for the system to be introduced because those who did not pay their tax left an added burden on other road users and significant revenue was being lost.
Authorities in the North found, following a study in 1998, that about 10 per cent or 79,000 motorists evaded tax, costing £12 million, she said. They now use an automatic number plate- reading camera to detect unlicensed vehicles.
This is "secure and tamper- proof, can work day and night and can detect vehicles travelling above 100mph," Ms Keaveney said. The camera "reads the licence-plate of the car and automatically checks it against the licensing records of the driver of the vehicle. It stores images of the cars found to be unlicensed. This photographic evidence can be presented in court in support of prosecutions."
If the system was introduced in the Republic, it would "have the potential to detect road-tax dodgers".
Mr McDowell said he believed the system used in the UK was operated by non-police personnel. To get compliance in this area and to save valuable Garda resources, a computerised system would have to be "interoperable" with the databases used by the motor vehicle system in the Department of the Environment and the summonsing method for the penalty points system.
