2,700 foreign cars in Ireland are not registered

ALMOST one-in-four foreign-registered cars in Ireland does not comply with vehicle registration requirements, according to the Revenue.

The owners of more than 2,700 cars with foreign plates who failed to notify the authorities about their vehicles were identified by Revenue mobile patrols last year.

The offending motorists were caught following a Revenue investigation into the status of almost 12,000 suspect vehicles.

Seven owners are due to face prosecution over the issue, while a further 54 vehicles were seized.

More than 660 cars were taken back abroad following the Revenue crackdown, while a further 149 vehicles were scrapped.

It is understood that the majority of cases related to Irish residents who imported vehicles but failed to re-register them with the Irish authorities for Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT).

More than 1,405 motorists caught by the Revenue decided to register their vehicle and pay the relevant VRT.

Separately, the tax authorities seized 160 high-powered luxury vehicles in 2005 over the failure of their owners to pay VRT.

The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) yesterday expressed concern about legal loopholes which made it easier for the owners of foreign-registered vehicles to drive without insurance.

MIBI chief executive John Casey said it appeared easy as the owner of a foreign-registered vehicle to avoid detection. He claimed there was a particular problem on this matter with vehicles registered in the North.

"There is anecdotal evidence on an annual basis that many Northern-Ireland registered cars are owned by people living in the Republic," said Mr Casey.

"The absence of a requirement for cars in Britain and Northern Ireland to display an insurance disc on the windscreen of vehicles makes it hard for anyone to know if a car is insured or not."

A Revenue spokesperson confirmed that the owners of foreign-registered vehicles who are temporary residents in Ireland are not generally liable for VRT, motor tax, penalty points or the National Car Test.

Concern about the ability of gardaí to check insurance and registration details of foreign vehicles emerged after the MIBI revealed that more than 800 foreign motorists were involved in serious accidents on Irish roads in 2005.

MIBI statistics also showed that 25% of non-Irish drivers involved in accidents were uninsured.

It is estimated that 15%-20% of all accidents relating to foreign motorists involve citizens from the 10 new EU accession countries.

Meanwhile, a leading European road safety think-tank has criticised EU efforts to reach its target of halving the number of road fatalities by 2010.

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) claims a mid-term report on the EU's Road Safety Action Programme, to be published in Brussels tomorrow, can only deliver its objectives if great action is taken to prevent accidents.

The report will show that Ireland has one of the worst records in Europe at improving road safety. As a result, the Government is unlikely to reach its own target of reducing road deaths to 300 or less by 2006.

Road fatalities in Ireland increased by 6.7% to 399 fatalities last year at a time when most other EU countries recorded a drop in numbers killed in traffic accidents. Already in 2006, a total of 64 people have died in accidents on roads in the Republic three more than at the same time last year.

An ETSC spokesperson said: "Despite some singular national achievements, the EU road safety policy is far from being a success story, and the gap between the best and the worst-performing member states is widening."

The ETSC has expressed particular concern about the high fatality rate among motorcyclists. It has predicted that, by 2010, one-in-three road deaths will be a motorcyclist compared to one-in-six today.