MINISTERS FROM Dublin, Belfast and London yesterday agreed a new protocol at Stormont whereby drivers disqualified in one jurisdiction will be automatically disqualified throughout Britain and Ireland.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and the North's Minister of the Environment Sammy Wilson predicted the new arrangement, which is due to be in place by the spring of next year, will save lives, particularly along Border areas.
The British road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick said that "this pioneering agreement will make our roads safer by ensuring disqualified drivers are not able to escape their punishment and so keep dangerous drivers off our roads".
The Dáil, Assembly and Westminster ministers are also working on an agreement where penalty points applied to drivers in one of the three jurisdictions would apply in all jurisdictions.
Mr Dempsey said that such were the legal complexities that it could take four or five years before there was a workable agreement between Britain and Ireland on penalty points.
The ministers said the agreement was the first "practical step of its kind in Europe".
Mr Dempsey said that in Britain and Ireland there was a huge effort to reduce the number of road deaths and this initiative would assist that enterprise.
Mr Dempsey said he believed the agreement would save lives, particularly in Border areas. "In the Border counties, on both sides of the Border, the rate of accidents and the number of fatalities and injuries is about 33 per above the national average on both sides," he said.
"Drivers from the Republic when they go over the Border seem to think they have complete freedom, and vice versa. And that is something that we can't tolerate," he added.
Mr Wilson agreed that there was a perception on the island that when drivers moved into the neighbouring jurisdiction they could speed without fear of prosecution.
Meanwhile, Mr Dempsey has expressed his determination to press ahead with moves to stop provisional driving licence-holders from driving without an accompanied driver.
The Minister said the recent reductions in waiting lists for driving tests meant it was now appropriate to go ahead with the introduction of the ban from next Monday, June 30th.
The move is likely to affect at least 50,000 drivers who are still awaiting a test, or who have failed a test in recent months.
Mr Dempsey has consistently argued that when tests are available on demand - a feature which is defined as within 10 weeks - it made little sense to allow drivers who have failed their tests or simply repeatedly put the test off to continue on the roads unaccompanied.
The Road Safety Authority has revealed that more than 12,000 applicants a week are now being tested, and said it is on target to achieve "testing on demand" by the end of this month.
From that deadline, drivers who hold a provisional licence - or learner permit, as it is now called - may drive only when accompanied by a driver who holds a full licence for more then two years. Offending drivers face a fine of €1,000 for a first offence and €2,000 for a second.