STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 432 of 1999.

VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND TAXATION (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1999.

S.I. No. 432 of 1999.

VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND TAXATION (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1999.

The Revenue Commissioners, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 141(1) of the Finance Act, 1992 (No. 9 of 1992) , hereby make the following regulations.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Vehicle Registration and Taxation (Amendment) Regulations, 1999.

2. The Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 318 of 1992 ), are hereby amended by the substitution for the First Schedule of the following Schedule:

“FIRST SCHEDULE

Form of Identification Marks

1. The following provisions shall be complied with in respect of identification marks to be exhibited on vehicles entered in the register.

2. The identification mark of a vehicle shall be displayed on a rectangular plate which shall correspond with either Diagram No. 1 or Diagram No. 2 shown below.

Diagram No.1

Diagram No.2

3. (a) The plate on which an identification mark is exhibited (in this Schedule referred to as “the plate”) shall not contain any words, letters, numbers, emblems or other marks of any kind other than those required under this Schedule.

(b) The identification mark shall not incorporate the figure nought unless such figure forms part of the identification mark assigned to the vehicle by the Commissioners.

4. The plate shall exhibit the placename set out in the Table to this paragraph opposite the mention in the Table of the index mark on the plate, the flag of the European Communities and the letters IRL all of which shall be arranged in conformity with this Schedule.

TABLE

INDEX MARKS AND CORRESPONDING PLACE NAMES

5. The periphery of the plate shall be marked all around by a black border having a stroke width of 5 millimetres and the plate shall be made of metal or plastic.

6. An identification mark which is exhibited on a metal plate shall be embossed by being raised above the flat surface of the plate and shall form part of the plate.

7. An identification mark which is exhibited on a plastic plate shall be affixed with an adhesive substance to the rear of the plate and be so affixed that it cannot be readily detached therefrom.

8. A plate made of plastic shall be constructed of transparent material of at least 2.5 millimetres in thickness.

9. The identification mark and placename shall be formed of black characters and shall be exhibited on white reflex reflective material so that the identification mark appears at all times from the front of the plate as black characters on a white background.

10. The flag of the European Communities shall appear as a circle of twelve gold stars against a blue background (of a colour shade generally known as royal blue); the centrepoints of the twelve stars shall form a circle with a radius of 15 millimetres and the straight lines forming the apexes of the stars shall be 4 millimetres in length.

11. The letters IRL shall appear in white letters on the blue background of the flag of the European Communities underneath the circle of stars and each such letter shall have a height of 20 millimetres and a stroke width of 4 millimetres. The total width of the space taken by each of the letters R and L shall be 12 millimetres. The distances between adjoining letters shall be uniform.

12. The blue background and gold stars of the flag of the European Communities and the white letters IRL shall be formed of reflex reflective material.

13. The placename shall appear in black letters above the identification mark and each letter of the placename shall have a height of not less than 12 millimetres and a stroke width of not less than 3 millimetres. The total width of the space taken by each letter (other than the letter I) shall not be less than 9 millimetres. Where an accented vowel occurs in the placename the length accent character shall have a height of 2 millimetres above the letter. The distances between the nearest parts of adjoining letters shall be uniform. Where the placename comprises more than one word the distances between the nearest letters of adjoining words shall be uniform and not less than three times the distance between adjoining letters.

14. The identification mark shall appear in black characters and each letter or figure shall have a height of 70 millimetres and a stroke width of 10 millimetres. The total width of the space taken by each letter or figure (other than the letter “I” or the number “I”) shall be not less than 36 millimetres and not more than 50 millimetres. The distances between adjoining letters and adjoining figures shall be uniform and shall be not less than 8 millimetres.

15. The distance between the inner edge of the blue background of the flag of the European Communities and the first letter of the placename shall be equal to the distance between the last letter of the placename and the inner edge of the black border on the right-hand side of the plate and shall not be less than 8 millimetres.

16. In the case of an identification mark which is exhibited on a plate in conformity with Diagram No. 1 shown in paragraph 2 of this Schedule--

(a) the external size of the plate shall be 520 millimetres in width and 110 millimetres in height;

(b) the blue background of the flag of the European Communities shall extend vertically from the inner edge of the black border at the top of the plate to the inner edge of the black border at the bottom of the plate and shall extend horizontally for a distance of 40 millimetres from the inner edge of the black border on the left-hand side of the plate;

(c) the distance between the inner edge of the blue background of the flag of the European Communities and the first figure of the identification mark shall be equal to the distance between the last figure of the identification mark and the inner edge of the black border on the right-hand side of the plate and shall be not less than 8 millimetres;

(d) the index mark shall be separated from adjoining figures on each side of the index mark by a hyphen with a stroke width of 10 millimetres which shall extend horizontally for a distance of not less than 13 millimetres and not more than 22 millimetres; the distances between each hyphen and the nearest part of any adjoining letter or figure shall be uniform and shall be not less than 10 millimetres;

(e) the margin between the inner edge of the black border at the top of the plate and the nearest part of any letter in the placename (excluding any length accent) shall be 5 millimetres in height;

(f) the space between the nearest part of any letter of the placename and any letter or figure of the identification mark shall be not less than 4 millimetres in height;

(g) the space between the nearest part of any letter or figure of the identification mark and the inner edge of the black border at the bottom of the plate shall be not less than 8 millimetres in height.

17. In the case of an identification mark which is exhibited on a plate in conformity with Diagram No. 2 shown in paragraph 2 of this Schedule--

(a) the external size of the plate shall be 340 millimetres in width and 220 millimetres in height;

(b) the blue background of the flag of the European Communities shall be located at the top left-hand corner of the plate and shall extend vertically downwards from the inner edge of the black border at the top of the plate for a distance of 100 millimetres and shall extend horizontally from the inner edge of the black border at the left-hand side of the plate for a distance of 40 millimetres;

(c) the distance between the inner edge of the blue background of the flag of the European Communities and the first figure of the identification mark shall be equal to the distance between the last letter of the index mark and the inner edge of the black border on the right-hand side of the plate;

(d) the index mark shall be separated from the figures on the upper line of the identification mark by a hypen with a stroke width of 10 millimeters which shall extend horizontally for a distance of 22 millimetres; the distance between the hypen and the nearest part of any adjoining letter or figure shall be uniform and shall be not less than 10 millimetres;

(e) the distance between the inner edge of the black border at the left-hand side of the plate and the nearest figure on the lower line of the identification mark shall be equal to the distance between the last figure on that line and the inner edge of the black border at the right-hand side of the plate and shall be not less than 30 millimeters;

(f) the margin between the inner edge of the black border at the top of the plate and the nearest part of any letter in the placename (excluding any length accent) shall be 12 millimetres in height;

(g) the space between the nearest part of any letter of the placename and the nearest part of any character in the upper line of the identification mark shall be not less than 12 millimetres in height;

(h) the space between the upper and lower line of the identification mark shall be not less than 12 millimetres in height;

(i) the margin between the lower line of the identification mark and the inner edge of the black border at the bottom of the plate shall be not less than 12 millimetres in height.

18. In the case of an identification mark exhibited on a bicycle, an invalid carriage or a pedestrian-controlled vehicle:-

(a) any of the dimensions prescribed in paragraph 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 of this Schedule may be reduced to an amount which is not less than half of the amount so prescribed, and

(b) the plate need not be rectangular provided that the letters and figures thereon comply as nearly as possible with the arrangement shown in Diagram No. 1 or Diagram No. 2 in paragraph 2 of this Schedule or as described in paragraph 19 of this Schedule, as the case may be.

19. In the case of a bicycle, an invalid carriage or a pedestrian-controlled vehicle on which an identification mark is displayed on a plate generally of the type shown in the said Diagram No. 2, if the dimensions of the identification mark or plate are reduced in accordance with paragraph 18 of this Schedule, the identification mark or plate shall not be held to be in contravention of this Schedule solely because:-

(a) the flag of the European Communities is at the bottom left-hand corner of the plate, and

(b) part of the placename is above the flag of the European Communities.

20. In the case of a vehicle which is provided with an indented space to accommodate a registration plate and the size of the space is such that it can accommodate neither a plate of the dimensions prescribed in paragraph 16(a) of this Schedule nor a plate of the dimensions prescribed in paragraph 17(a) of this Schedule, the dimensions prescribed in paragraphs 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 of this Schedule may be reduced provided that the dimensions as so reduced comply as nearly as possible with the dimensions so prescribed.

21. An identification mark or plate shall not be held to be in contravention of this Schedule by reason only of failure to comply with the dimensions prescribed in this Schedule provided that:-

(a) in the case of a prescribed dimension which is 70 millimetres or less, the difference between the dimensions of the identification mark or plate and the prescribed dimensions is not greater than 1 millimetre, and

(b) in the case of a prescribed dimension which is greater than 70 millimetres, the difference between the dimension of the identification mark or plate and the prescribed dimension is not greater than 3 millimetres.

22. The provisions of paragraphs 2 to 21 of this Schedule shall not apply in the case of a large public service vehicle (within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (No. 24 of 1961) ) on which an identification mark is so constructed and used that it is illuminated by transparency or translucency and in such a case the characters of the identification mark shall appear white when the mark is so illuminated and shall appear at all other times white against a black background.

23. The provisions of this Schedule shall be deemed to be complied with in relation to an identification mark which incorporates the index mark ZV if the identification mark exhibited on the vehicle complies with the provisions of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations, 1982 ( S.I. No. 311 of 1982 ).”

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations prescribe the format, dimensions and technical specifications of registration plates to be displayed on vehicles. They substitute the First Schedule of the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 318 of 1992 ) to allow additional characters to be displayed on the registration plate and to ensure that these are displayed in the correct position and proportion. The changes are necessary to cater for increases in the number of car registrations.