Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 February 2021
101. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if his Department can waive the requirement to have a recently expired certificate of competency exchanged for a full driver licence for a person (details supplied) necessary to start a new job due to misinterpretation of new regulations introduced in April 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9648/21]
View answerIn response to the Covid-19 restrictions introduced by the Government in March 2020, regulations were brought in to extend the period of validity for all Certificates of Competency that expired between 1 March and 30 June. Certificates that were due to expire from 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 inclusive, had their period of validity extended by 4 months.
The validity of Certificates of Competency is set out in legislation which is based on both national and EU law. Making a change to the validity of an existing certificate would require a change in law. I have no plans to extend further the validity date of certificates of competency.
