Cross-border agreement on parking fines

A new cross-border agreement is being introduced today that will allow the authorities in Northern Ireland and the Republic to pursue motorists for unpaid parking fines incurred in either jurisdiction.
The unpaid fines represent the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue.
Every year, thousand of drivers who incur parking tickets on either side of the border do not pay the fines in the knowledge they cannot be pursued by the authorities.
Here in Donegal for example, this can mean lost revenue running into hundreds of thousands of euro.
In Buncrana, over 700 parking tickets were issued, but just 200 of them were for cars registered in the Republic.
The new cross-border agreement coming into force today means drivers from the Republic can be pursued for fines they have incurred in Northern Ireland, and similarly, the authorities in the Republic can chase Northern Ireland drivers for parking fines and unpaid road tolls.
Drivers from the Republic who have received parking fines in Northern Ireland before today are advised that the penalties are still valid and should be paid.
The pilot scheme runs until next November.