Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
1228. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to acquire Canadian recognition of valid Irish driving licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48242/12]
View answerThe Road Safety Authority (RSA) has operational responsibility for approving countries for the recognition and mutual exchange of driving licences.
As you would expect, it is preferable to conclude mutual agreements at a national level so that there is a consistent approach across the whole country. This approach reduces the not insignificant burden of evaluating a number of licensing regimes within a single country where a federal arrangement applies.
However, for practical purposes, it is not always possible to work at a national level. In such cases, an alternative is to work with individual provinces where there might be a concentration of Irish emigrants. As such, following engagement with the Irish Embassy in Ottawa, a number of provinces in Canada have been identified for mutual recognition purposes. It has been decided, at this time, to prioritise Ontario as it is now home to a large community of Irish people.
The RSA have recently provided a comprehensive report to the Irish Embassy in Ontario on the details of the driver licensing and driver testing system in Ireland. The Embassy has also requested similar information from the licensing authority in Ontario. Once this information has been provided by the Canadian authorities, the RSA will seek to come to a mutually acceptable agreement, if appropriate, with the licensing authority in Ontario. Until that time, the Irish Embassy in Ontario is actively pursuing the Canadian authorities at a local level, and the RSA is in regular contact with the Embassy in an effort to minimise any delays in this process.
