Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis asked Minister Ross the implications for insurance on off road vehicles arising from the Vnuk v Triglav ruling.  The ECJ interpreted the directive to mean that any motor vehicle, whether on private or public land, must be covered by third party insurance.

The Dublin North West TD said:

“Mr Vnuk who brought an action for compensation for injury in his native Slovenia as a result of an accident.  Mr Vnuk lost his claim for compensation in the domestic courts on the basis that the vehicles were only insured when in public place but appealed his claim to the ECJ. Like Ireland, the Slovenian equivalent of our road traffic legislation required vehicles to be insured when they were on the road or other public place – but not necessarily when they were on private land. this might have serious implications on off road vehicles.

“I have raised the issue of the misuse of all-terrain vehicles numerous times in the Dáil and the government and Senior Gardaí have always responded that this is already covered by legislation. Hence, I introduced a Bill called the Misuse of Vehicles in Public Spaces in 2012; this Bill was opposed by the Fine Gael Minister at the time, who, on advice, deemed it unnecessary. This contradicted the advice I was receiving from local safety forums from Gardaí and other relevant bodies which were indicating there is an anomaly in the current legislation.  Now, the current Minister needs to explain how the ECJ directive will affect both the definition of public space and the need to insure all motor vehicles on public and private land.”

Sinn Féin spokesperson on urban regeneration Deputy Ellis has welcomed aspects of Kieran Mulvey’s outline plan for the social and economic regeneration of the north inner city.
“The plan announced last night has positive aspects but it doesn’t deal with the wider and longer term issues in the area. This is the consequence of not engaging fully with the local community. Successful urban regeneration has to understand the social, environmental, cultural, educational, safety, business  and structural needs of the area. This report focuses on the short term and finding the solution to immediate crisis, but unless a holistic long term approach is forthcoming the regeneration will problematic. ”
Deputy Ellis continued ” the actions outlined in the plan will have a positive effect on the area in the short term where the limited funding outlined will allow, but no thought is given to what the north inner city will develop into over the next number of years , such as how the effects of gentrification will effect it. However, the initial step taken by the Government is welcome in so far as that they are engaging with a community that they have ignored for years.”