asked the Minister for the Environment if, in view of the serious problems that now exist in relation to motor insurance, he will introduce a scheme whereby insurance discs would be issued to vehicle owners on payment of the insurance premium and owners would be compelled to display the discs publicly on the vehicles as confirmation of insurance.

I have no proposals for the introduction of a scheme whereby an insurance disc would be displayed on motor vehicles as evidence that there is a current insurance on such vehicles.

(Cavan-Monaghan): Would the Minister not consider the whole question of insurance discs and tax discs in the light of the statement made by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy on the 1.30 news programme that it is proposed to reintroduce motor car tax?

I did not hear the statement.

(Cavan-Monaghan): Did the Minister not hear it today?

No.

(Cavan-Monaghan): He will be surprised to hear that his senior colleague, as he was described, stated on the 1.30 news programme that he thinks it would be reasonable to reintroduce car tax. The Minister is aware that he is tipped as the next Minister for Finance.

It is only a partial reintroduction but it will be like creeping paralysis.

Would the Minister approve of it?

No.

(Cavan-Monaghan): Another row in the Cabinet.

It is good to have that on the record.

These are not relevant questions.

Does the Minister accept there is a problem in relation to the question of insurance? Apparently there are a growing number of drivers on the roads without any insurance cover. The Garda and other responsible authorities are extremely concerned about this. Will the Minister give serious consideration to the proposal in the question which may not necessarily be the answer? I would appreciate it if he would give consideration to it. Will he consider introducing a disc which would be displayed on the windscreen of cars or vehicles indicating that they are insured?

There is a difficulty. I have heard the Deputy speak about this on the radio. It was considered at the time of the change to the registration disc. The main difficulty is that a registration disc gives the number of the vehicle which should correspond with the number plate. An insurance certificate insures a driver only. He could be driving other vehicles and not a particular one. There are so many subclauses and so on in an insurance certificate that there are enormous difficulties in devising a disc which would stipulate that the driver was insured to drive a particular car. He could be insured for open driving or anything like that.

Apart from the obvious advantage of the compulsory displaying of a disc naming those drivers insured to drive a car, would such a system not also help the Garda where necessary in respect of identification?

Such a system would be of assistance to the Garda but there is the problem of variation in regard to insurance. The question is far more complicated than it would appear. It is not simply a matter of naming two or three drivers.

Must not a certificate of insurance cover be produced at the time of registering a car?

That is so.

Why, then, is the Minister suggesting that such a scheme would not be possible?

Formerly when a car was being taxed the applicant was required only to produce an insurance certificate that was valid on the day on which the application was being made but that certificate could have expired by the following day.

The problem is highlighted in that reply. Since we have a situation in which an insurance certificate is produced both at the time of first registration and of subsequent re-registrations, should it not be a simple matter to devise a system requiring the production of a certificate for the period for which a vehicle was registered?

In the past the first day of January was the date on which most people taxed their vehicles and it is still the situation that many people register their cars on that day but the problem in regard to what the Deputy is suggesting is that insurance cover can begin on any day of any month. In other words, the system of insurance has never been on a 1 January to 31 December basis. It would not be feasible for an official issuing a registration list to issue also a disc certifying that the vehicle concerned was insured for a specific period from that date.

Regarding the Minister's reply to the question in the first instance and to the difficulty to which he rightly points, that is, that insurance is applicable to individuals, would he be prepared to give thought to the type of system that operates in Cork in regard to parking discs whereby there is displayed a disc or what is in effect a certificate on the windscreen of a car which is removable by the driver? I am not asking the Minister at this stage to debate the merits or otherwise of such a system. All I am asking is that he consider sympathetically the idea that there be public identification of the existence of insurance cover.

I agree that it is most desirable that a system be devised to ensure that vehicles are insured. We gave serious consideration to this question at the time of the registration issue.

Will the Minister review the situation?

Yes.

I appeal to the Minister not to hide behind some of the alleged administrative difficulties in regard to this matter.

Hear, hear.

Having regard to the question that is to follow this one, I urge the Minister to recognise the difficulties that face people who have the misfortune to be hit by non-insured vehicles, difficulties that are much more onerous than any which might affect the Department. Will the Minister assure the House that he will not take the administrative and functionally easy way out in regard to this issue as happened in respect of provisional driving licences?

There are thousands of people who would not agree with that last remark.

That move was a declaration of administrative failure. Hopefully, we shall not have a repeat of it.

(Cavan-Monaghan): Hopefully, the Minister for Education will not follow that example and give the Leaving Certificate to somebody who has failed twice.

That would be nice at election time, perhaps.

When we considered this question of the public identification of insurance cover, the proposition did not seem feasible within a reasonable time. Deputy Keating is right and I, too, look forward to the day when we can ensure that every vehicle is insured. I appreciate the point regarding people who are hit by non-insured vehicles and I shall continue my efforts at finding a way of dealing with this problem.

But the Minister must not continue to do merely what the civil servants say he should do.

Will the Minister let us know the outcome of those further investigations?

Yes.

Let us ask not how it cannot be done but how it can be done.

That is my approach.

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