I propose to take Questions Nos. 1424 and 1425 together.
The International Driving Permit is not a driving licence. It is a document in a standard international format giving details of the national licence which the person holds. It is therefore irrelevant to the question of driver licence exchange, which depends on the underlying national licence. Likewise, the citizenship of an applicant is not relevant to the question of driving licence exchange.
The rules on the exchange of non-Irish for Irish driving licences are clear. Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. Under EU law, we may issue driving licences only to people resident in the jurisdiction.
Where people with a driving licence issued by another EU Member State take up residence in Ireland, they may exchange their licence for the Irish equivalent. In the case of non-Member States, we may reach bilateral agreements on exchange of licences. Where a holder of such a licence takes up residence in Ireland, they may exchange their licence for the Irish equivalent.
In the absence of a bilateral agreement - which means that there is no recognised standard of testing which people have met - we require people to go through the national driver learning process in order to obtain an Irish driving licence.