Driver Licences

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021

Wednesday, 21 April 2021

Questions (328)

Claire Kerrane

Question:

328. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties faced by persons here in accessing a code required from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the UK in order to transfer from an English to Irish licence; if assistance will be provided to a person (details supplied) who needs a C1 licence as an essential worker in the broadband roll-out and cannot access the code needed to transfer their C1 licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18735/21]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Transport

A person exchanging a UK driving licence that has expired by less than 1 year is required to provide a letter of entitlement from the relevant UK licensing authority. It is my understanding that the UK authorities not longer provide such letters, but rather issue the requestor with an access code to view their licence entitlements online. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has agreed to accept this code from a licence exchange applicant in lieu of the letter of entitlement. Please note that the RSA cannot request this access code from the UK authorities on behalf of a third party. The issuing of this code and/or letters of entitlement are a matter for the UK authorities.