Ruairí Quinn
Question:269 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Transport the consultation that has taken place between his Department and representatives of the motor trade, including such representative bodies as the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, concerning the implications of the transfer in September 2004 to an inclusive system of metrication whereby imperial measurements will be replaced with metric measurements with regard to speedometers and related instrumentation; if technical specifications have been prepared by his Department in order to facilitate the industry in pre-planning the transfer and making the necessary changes in the ordering of components from external suppliers; the co-ordination there is between his Department and the relevant Department in the United Kingdom in order to harmonise the transition, in view of the fact that suppliers regard both the British and Irish markets as one unit for the purposes of imperial instrumentation; the steps that need to be taken by all those engaged in the motor trade and its related ancillary activity in order to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements of EU regulations and directives in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29077/03]