Electronic devices that allow drivers to listen to MP3 players on their car radios are to be made legal by the end of the year.
Communications regulator ComReg said the move was in line with other European countries and should be in place by the end of the year.
"This is being done on a pan-European basis. Some countries are slightly ahead and some slightly behind," a ComReg spokesman told ireland.com. "We're doing it t the same time as the UK".
The devices are plugged into the music players and give out a low-powered radio transmission that is picked up on a defined frequency on the car's radio.
They have been illegal to date because they technically breach rules governing radio broadcasting.
The ComReg spokesman said the move to legalise them was "in response to popular demand" and because there was no real danger of interference with radio frequencies.
But he added: "Devices should come with a CE stamp so consumers know them meet requisit EU standards."
FM transmitters are already legal in the USA and in some European countries. They can be bought over the Internet.
