A loophole that allows drivers from one side of the Border to avoid penalty points in the other jurisdiction is to close by 2015.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar yesterday met the Northern Irish Minister for the Environment, Alex Attwood, and Minister for Regional Development Danny Kennedy in Armagh.
The Ministers agreed to a timetable that will see the mutual recognition of penalty points introduced between the jurisdictions by December 31st, 2014. Mr Varadkar said he looked forward to a time “when it won’t be possible to escape penalty points simply by crossing the Border”.
He added: “This level of co-operation between the two jurisdictions is very important. Even though we live in two separate jurisdictions, new EU laws are regularly introduced which affect citizens North and South in the same way.”
Mr Varadkar also invited the Northern Irish Ministers to take part in road safety and transport meetings held as part of Ireland’s EU presidency in 2013.