Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2022
129. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Transport if persons with driving licences from another jurisdiction (details supplied) must retrain through the National Driver Licence Service; if he intends to add the country to the list of countries from which licences can be exchanged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25733/22]
View answerIrish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law, with which all member states must comply. The format of driving licences, categories of vehicles and the standards to be met in driving tests to qualify for a licence are all set at EU level. Therefore, all EU-issued licences are mutually recognised in member states.
A person resident in Ireland must have an Irish or EU driving licence to drive here. Bilateral agreements on licence exchange may be made with non-EU jurisdictions. Reaching a driving licence exchange agreement with another country is a comprehensive process, carried out between the statutory licensing authorities in each state. To ensure the safety of road users, such agreements can be made only when each authority is satisfied that the two licensing systems are comparable. If standards and procedures are not comparable, the process does not continue. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). Ireland does not have a driving licence exchange agreement with Monaco.
People who have held a full but non-exchangeable licence for two years or longer go through the normal driver learning process but can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of six lessons, instead of the usual twelve, and they do not have to be a learner driver for the usual minimum of six months before taking a driving test.
