Why motor industry lobbied for changes to vehicle registration plates

Sir, – Brian Murphy ('Why we have years on our car number plates,' Letters, September 4th) is, of course, entitled to disagree with my letter. However, references to my having a 'bee in my bonnet' and assumptions about my experience of dealing with civil servants are personal rather than substantive. I did not say that the motor industry was responsible for the introduction of the 1987 registration system. I stated that, since 1987, the year of first registration has been prominently displayed on Irish registration plates. Separately, I stated that the motor industry subsequently lobbied successfully for the 2013 change to 131/132 registrations in order to influence the timing of new-car purchases. Murphy's own account expressly confirms this: that the industry 'eventually succeeded' in securing the change because sales had become heavily front-loaded. Indeed, The Irish Times itself reported in December 2012 that the change fulfilled a long-standing motor-trade wish to even out the annual sales rush. That was precisely my point. The State-mandated registration plate prominently advertises a car's age, and in 2013 that feature was deliberately modified to influence consumer purchasing patterns. Murphy may disagree with my conclusions, but those facts remain. – Yours, etc, CONOR MOONEY, Paris.