The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has today started to provide motor insurance details to An Garda Síochána on a daily basis after the official signing of the data sharing agreement between the two organisations.
Details for three million vehicles and five million drivers will now be provided from the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) each day as part of the efforts to identify vehicles being driven illegally without insurance.
Research published by the MIBI earlier this year showed that Ireland had the second highest level of uninsured driving in the EU in 2021, with the numbers rising further in 2022 reaching almost 188,000 uninsured vehicles or one in every 12 private vehicles in use across country.
It is illegal to drive on Irish roads without valid motor insurance. Under Irish law, the penalties for vehicles found without valid insurance include An Garda Síochána having the power to seize the vehicle on the spot, as well as other penalties such as an automatic court appearance, five penalty points and a fine.
As part of the deal, An Garda Síochána will now receive comprehensive insurance records every night, which will provide a real time picture of the insurance details for every private vehicle in the country.
The data which An Garda Síochána will now have access to includes the name and address of the insurance policy holder, the insurance policy number and validity dates of that policy, the vehicle registration number covered by the policy as well as named drivers included on the insurance policy and the date of birth of drivers.
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This means that if a vehicle's insurance was to lapse, the Gardai would have access to information providing that detail.
The signing of the deal is the culmination of years of collaboration between the MIBI, An Garda Síochána as well as the Department of Transport, Insurance Ireland, the insurance industry and other stakeholders all aimed at reducing the number of uninsured vehicles being driven in Ireland.
The number of vehicles covered in the insurance data updates is expected to rise even further early next year when data relating to fleet and motor trader vehicles are added.
Ahead of that measure taking effect, fleet owners/ managers as well as motor traders have until the end of November to upload any vehicles covered by flexible motor insurance policies to another within a range of vehicles) to the National Fleet Database.
The CEO of the MIBI, David Fitzgerald, said today's agreement marks a significant milestone in the battle against uninsured driving.
"With the full data transfer for private vehicles now in effect, members of An Garda Síochána will have access to real time motor insurance information. So law enforcement won't be dependent on checking motor insurance certificates, they'll be able to get details for a vehicle's motor insurance policy, the period of time that policy applies as well as information on what individuals are covered by the policy," Mr Fitzgerald said.
"We have seen how effective a weapon this has been against uninsured driving in the UK and we anticipate it will have a similar effect in Ireland - making it next to impossible for motorists to act illegally and drive without valid motor insurance being in place," he added.
The Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing and Community Engagement with An Garda Síochána, Paula Hilman, said the agreement will act as a modern and effective tool in the battle against uninsured driving.
"With this data, members of An Garda Síochána across the country will now have access to all the latest, comprehensive motor insurance information for every private vehicle operating on our roads. We look forward to using this data to help identify and penalise those who are guilty of driving without insurance, making our roads safer in the process," the Assistant Commissioner added.
