Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 May 2021
106. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Transport if he will review the situation pertaining to the swapping of EU to Irish driver licences in cases in which the originating country is outside the EU; if the case of a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28814/21]
View answerIrish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. This law exists to ensure that people licensed to drive on our roads meet the high standards of safety set out at EU level for passing a driving test. Therefore, a holder of a Member State-issued licence who moves to Ireland can drive on that licence until the licence expires. On expiry, the licence holder can then exchange their licence for an Irish licence.
The exception to this rule is where the licence issued by the other Member State was itself issued in exchange for a licence from a state that is not a Member State, or a state that Ireland does not have a licence exchange agreement with. The Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) Order 2007 (SI 527 of 2007) refers.
When people come to Ireland with a non-exchangeable licence, they are required to go through the process of obtaining an Irish licence. While many may have a safe driving record, we have no way of measuring the standard of the driving test passed to obtain the licence.
People with a full but non-exchangeable licence go through the normal learner driver process, but they can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of six lessons, instead of the usual 12, and they do not have to be a learner for the usual minimum of six months before taking a driving test.
