Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 January 2013
257. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on of the new driving licence scheme (details supplied); if he intends to address these apparent anomalies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3472/13]
View answerI recently revised the fee structure for driver licences, the first time this has been done since 1989. The new fee structure takes account of the fact that there was no increase since 1989 – which has left the driver licensing service underfunded – and also takes account of EU legislation regarding categories and periods of licence, which came into effect from 19 January 2013.
EU Directive 2006/126 states that, from 19 January 2013, licences for C and D categories shall have a validity of 5 years. The fee for renewing or adding these categories to a licence is €35. There is a production cost associated with each card, and the fee of €35 is to cover the cost of producing the licence so that the overall service can be less reliant on the Exchequer in future years.
In respect of people between the ages of 60 and 67, a driving licence may be granted for a period of 1 year or 3 years, where the application is required to be accompanied by a medical report and the medical report indicates that the applicant appears to require medical review. However, where an application does not require a medical report, all licences with a validity period greater than 3 years and less than 10 will be charged at €55. It would have been administratively difficult to apply a different or proportionate pricing regime in these circumstances.
I have opted to maintain the position that no fee applies to applicants over 70 years of age. Similarly, no fee will apply to anyone wishing to change personal details on a licence.
