Transport JC 17 April 2002

1. The second meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in Transport Sector was held in Farmleigh House, Dublin on 17 April 2002. The Irish Government was represented by Mr Noel Dempsey, TD, Minister for the Environment and Local Government, who chaired the meeting. The Northern Ireland Administration was represented by Mr Dermot Nesbitt, MLA, Minister of the Environment and Mr Denis Haughey MLA, Minister in the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

2. The programme for enhancing North/South co-operation on road safety, agreed at the first meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council in Transport Sector in December 2000, included a commitment to examine the possibility of the joint promotion of road safety educational initiatives and the development of a North/South network of professionals operating in the area of road safety education.

3. The Council noted the existing level of activity in relation to road safety education on both sides of the border and confirmed its continued commitment to co-operation on road safety education. The Council also approved a proposal to hold a North/South joint road safety conference at a future date and to consider holding an annual conference of this nature, in order to allow for the development of a network of road safety professionals.

4. Since 1996, both administrations have co-operated in the development of joint road safety awareness campaigns. These campaigns can be particularly effective in the North/South context because of the similarities in the road safety record and the common causes of fatalities and serious injuries. They also generate economies of scale both in terms of budget and of television and other media exposure. Additionally, they have shown themselves to be effective in attracting greater private sector sponsorship.

5. The Council noted progress to date and approved the further development of a new joint road safety campaign for 2002 which will focus on pedestrian safety. The objective of this campaign is to raise awareness of the number of pedestrians being killed and seriously injured on our roads and to make pedestrians and drivers more aware of their personal responsibility for avoiding road traffic collisions involving pedestrians.

6. The programme for enhancing North/South co-operation on road safety, which was agreed at the December 2000 Transport Sector meeting, included a commitment to explore the scope for developing a common basis of road safety reporting and an agreement that the appropriate authorities would investigate issues relating to road collisions in certain border areas.

7. The Council noted the reporting arrangements that exist on both sides of the border and the challenges in terms of developing a common basis for such reporting methods. It is proposed that progress on sharing information about the databases in each jurisdiction and on the potential for reporting commonly held data will be explored.

8. The Council also encouraged relevant agencies to investigate the similarities and differences in the characteristics of collisions occurring in certain border areas. The provision of such information may help in identifying what measures could be taken in both jurisdictions to address the causes of collisions in certain border counties.

9. Exchange of information on Road Safety Awareness is ongoing between the two administrations on the island of Ireland. Copies of key documents have been exchanged and arrangements made for each jurisdiction to keep the other informed of significant developments. In particular, the annual progress reports of the South's High Level Group on Road Safety and the document "Government Strategy for Road Safety 1998-2002" have been made available to the DOE in Northern Ireland while the Consultation Document for a new Road Safety Strategy was provided to DOELG in the South as will the Road Safety Strategy following its publication later in 2002. The Council noted the situation. In addition, officials from both jurisdictions have been meeting regularly in order to appraise each other of developments North and South of the border.

10 The Council noted the position with regard to the introduction of a penalty points system in the South and the existing penalty point system in Northern Ireland. The Council noted that, in regard to the mutual recognition of penalty points by both jurisdictions, it may be possible to address such a measure when the system in the South has come fully into operation. In preparation for this, it may be necessary to introduce a degree of harmonisation of certain road traffic offences that exist both North and South

11. An EU Convention on driving disqualification is already in place. The Convention provides that where a person is disqualified in another EU Member State, the state applying the disqualification may apply to the state where the person resides to give effect to the disqualification there. The Council noted that the Road Traffic Act 2002 provides a framework for implementing the Convention in the South and that legislation to provide for the mutual recognition of penalty points between Britain and Northern Ireland will be required before the convention can be ratified in the UK.

12. The Council also noted the potential that exists to provide for the pursuit of the payment of traffic fines on a cross border basis in the context of the potential adoption of the Agreement on Co-Operation between Member States of the European Union in Proceedings for Road Traffic Offences.

13. The Council agreed to meet again in this Sector in Northern Ireland in Autumn 2002.

Joint Secretariat

17 April 2002