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Road Traffic (Northern Ireland)Order 2007

I thank noble Lords for their general welcome for the order. The noble Lord,Lord Glentoran, asked about the need for more enforcement, particularly with regard to those who are driving vehicles illegally. Consultation on that issue has recently been completed and legislation is planned for later this year. On the offence of manslaughter, I understand that death by dangerous driving is included within paragraph (1)(a) of that article and is an offence under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. I understand that my honourable friend David Cairns has written to Lady Hermon and I will ensure that a copy of his letter gets to the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran. I totally understand the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, on MOT centres still being within government control and the concerns that arise because of delays. I understand that there were a number of problems as a result of strike action occurring at the same time as a large increase in the volume of requests for MOTs. Those backlogs have now been eliminated and tests are being offered inline with the agency’s targets. There are now extra staff, and overtime has been increased to improve effectiveness. However, the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, raised a wider point about whether the service needs to be in government ownership. I will feed that point back to my colleagues who are looking at the issue. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, I am not aware that we have plans to reconsider government control, but, in the light of the strong representations this afternoon, I will refer this issue back. The noble Lord, Lord Trimble, also asked about mutual enforceability. We are looking at that. My understanding is that although UK and Irish legislation both allow the recognition of driver disqualification, that will not come into effect until early 2008. A feasibility study is also looking at the issue of penalty points, which are inconsistent between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. The noble Lord also raised the issue of what happens here compared with what happens in Northern Ireland. It is certainly possible for someone to have 11 penalty points in England and 11 in Northern Ireland, with two different paper counterparts. We therefore need to look at the issue urgently. We recognise that it is a major problem.A feasibility study for co-operation on motoring infringements falling short of disqualification is currently under way and will report by early 2008. My noble friend Lord Simon raised the issue of seatbelts. As I understand it, we are introducing penalty points in Northern Ireland that we do not have in England and Wales. My noble friend was saying that there should be greater consistency between the two areas. I am happy to write to him on that. The point on hand-held mobiles raised by the noble Lord, Lord Smith Clifton, was more a comment than question. The strengthening of the legislation is happening today. If this order is passed, we can move quickly towards having exactly the same position in Northern Ireland. I think that I have addressed all the points raised. I commend the order to the Committee. On Question, Motion agreed to.