asked the Minister for the Environment the number of provisional driving licensees who, on 11 October 1979 held a previous provisional licence and the number of licences issued to date to such persons under the most recent regulations made under the Road Traffic Acts.
Written Answers. - Provisional Driving Licences.
361.
It is estimated that a total of 160,000 provisional licences were current on 11 October 1979 embracing all vehicle licensing classes other than Class E, which is excluded from the provisional licence.
The exemption from the driving test granted by the recent regulations related only to certain categories of provisional licence holders for private cars and cycles; information as to the number of full licences issued to-date to such persons is not available at this stage. It was estimated that the numbers of holders of provisional licences in respect of private cars and cycles on 11 October 1979 who had held a previous provisional licence and had a current application for a driving test was approximately 45,000.