Opposition politicians have demanded Government action on the illegal trade in unroadworthy cars following the deaths of two teenage girls in a crash in Co Clare last week.
Lorna O'Mahony (13) and Stacey Haugh (16) both from Kilkee, died in the crash outside the village of Carrigaholt on Friday night. The 15-year-old driver of the car is currently in a serious condition in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin. Two other boys, aged 15 and 11, were also injured.
The 1984 Opel Kadett car in which they were travelling was a so-called "company car", bought for €150 in Galway earlier that day.
Both Fine Gael and Labour demanded today that the Government fast-tracks any proposals it has to halt the trade in old, cars.
Fine Gael deputy transport spokesman and Co Clare TD, Mr Pat Breen, said these cars become "lethal weapons" when sold to young people. "This awful accident could have been prevented if the vehicle concerned had been taken off the road and scrapped," he said. "Yet at the moment there is no firm mechanism to ensure that dangerous vehicles, or vehicles which have not passed the NCT, are put beyond use."
He said the Government should consider introducing full traceability for all vehicles, to ensure that cars which have reached the end of their lives are destroyed. Such a system operates in many industries, including farming.
Labour Party Dublin North East TD Mr Tommy Broughan also called on the Government introduce legislation to deal with the sale of wrecked cars.
Mr Broughan said he has twice tabled a Bill in the Dáil which would deal with joyriding and make it "an offence to supply a vehicle to an under-age person in such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension that the vehicle will be used by an under-age driver in a public place". The Bill was rejected by the Government on both occasions, he said.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry has also called for the car scrappage scheme to be brought back in order to reduce the level of emissions in line with the Kyoto protocol. The scheme ran from July 1995 until December 1997. About 64,000 car owners availed of it, scrapping their cars aged over 10 years and receiving a £1,000 vehicle registration tax refund on the purchase of a new vehicle.
The head of the Garda Stolen Car Squad has also called on insurance companies to ensure that written-off cars are fully scrapped instead of being sold on for criminal purposes.