Proposals to integrate the penalty points systems of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain are currently being examined by officials.
At present Northern Ireland and British licence holders are not liable for penalty points for road traffic offences committed in the Republic. Irish licence holders do not receive points for offences committed in Northern Ireland or Britain.
The issue has been raised by gardaí as a concern in relation to driving behaviour of Northern Irish and British licence holders in the Republic.
However, under proposals currently being examined by the Department of Transport, the three separate systems would eventually be standardised, with the same level of points awarded for similar offences in each jurisdiction.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said that preliminary discussions between officials from the three jurisdictions had begun, but talks were at an early stage.
"Nothing can be advanced until the Irish penalty points system is fully computerised, which should be in the second quarter of next year," he said.
The proposals being examined envisaged the integration process occurring in two stages, beginning with the application in each jurisdiction of penalty points from another area.
Eventually, it was hoped that points levels and systems would be standardised, he said.
Meanwhile, legislation banning the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving will be introduced in the Dáil early next year. Regulations banning their use were introduced in March 2002 but never enforced after the Attorney General questioned their validity. Based on his advice, primary legislation banning the use of hand-held sets while driving will be introduced through an amendment to road traffic legislation early next year.