Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2020
243. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider introducing a reciprocal agreement with the United States of America on driver licences in view of the fact that the current requirements place an undue burden on Americans and returning Irish emigrants who are actively recruited to invest and work here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15515/20]
View answerIrish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. It is important to remember that driver licensing law exists to ensure that people licensed to drive on our roads meet high standards of safety. The standards for testing drivers are set at EU level.
As such, all EU driving licences are exchangeable when a person moves from one Member State to another. In the case of non-EU jurisdictions, we may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange when the relevant authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the two licensing regimes, so that each side can be satisfied that they are compatible and that licences can be exchanged without an adverse impact on road safety on one or other country, due to differing standards. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). As the Deputy will recognise, it is essential that a country with whom we agree to exchange licences has a robust system in place. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
The RSA has previously explored reaching an agreement on exchange with the USA. However, US driver licensing operates at State rather than federal level, meaning that there are 50 licensing systems with widely varying standards. Agreement with any one State would mean taking into account the exchange relations between that State and the other 49 States. In that regard, it is important to note that not only do systems and standards vary across states, but road safety records vary accordingly and indeed in many cases are more comparable to developing countries than, for example, other EU member states. The RSA therefore determined that agreement would not be possible, without undermining the safety of road users in Ireland and indeed across the EU.
When people come to Ireland with a non-exchange licence, we have no option but to require them to go through the process of obtaining an Irish licence. This is a matter of public safety. While many may have a safe driving record, we have no way of measuring this.
At present, people with a full but non-exchange licence go through the normal driver learning process, but they can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons instead of the usual 12. Some lessons would be useful in helping people to adjust to Irish driving rules and conditions. They also do not have to wait the minimum of 6 months before taking a driving test.
