Neale Richmond
Question:
177. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Transport the number of HGV driving licences that were issued in Ireland in each of the years from 2015 to 2020 and to date in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60091/21]
View answer
I will ask my officials to provide the information to the Deputy when is it obtained.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
HGV vehicles are those vehicles with a total weight above 3,500kg and the corresponding licence categories are C, CE, C1 and C1E. The number of distinct full licences issued with one or more of these categories in the years requested are as follows:
2015: 31,430
2016: 31,315
2017: 30,526
2018: 43,277
2019: 49,640
2020: 43,338
2021 (YTD): 40,897
Total: 270,423
Due to complexities around the issuance and renewal of licences that include categories of varying duration, the total number of current licences with a HGV category (311,773) does not tally with the sum of distinct licences that had a HGV category applied in the last 5 years (270,423).
A driving licence is usually issued for 10 years for a car category, but a C, CE, C1 and C1E category will expire after 5 years. This means that the number of driving licences issued for these truck categories will be greater than the number of holders. For example, a driving licence issued in 2014 will have been renewed again in 2019, but the licence will be for the same driver. Each time a truck category is added on to a driving licence, the truck category is issued for 5 years and the licence is extended by 10 years for the car category. While the current term of newly issued HGV licence categories is 5 years, this was only reduced from 10 years in 2013.
The figures provided above are based on the data available on the National Vehicle and Driver File.
