Irish driver licensing law operates within EU law. Driver licensing laws are intended to ensure drivers on our roads meet high safety standards. Testing standards are set at EU level.
All EU driving licences are exchangeable when moving between Member States. For non-EU jurisdictions, Ireland may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange. This is not a straightforward matter and reaching them is not a matter of political will. The core principle is to ensure the continued safety of Irish road users. Agreements can be made only when the authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the licensing regimes, so that each side is satisfied that standards are compatible. For Ireland, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
Since 2014, the RSA has been working on driving licence exchange agreements with Canada. Agreements have been completed with Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland & Labrador, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta and New Brunswick to date.
The RSA has previously explored exchange agreements with the USA. However, US driver licensing operates at state, rather than federal, level, meaning that there are 50 licensing systems with widely varying standards. Agreement with any one state would mean taking into account the exchange relations between that state and the other 49. The RSA determined that agreement would not be feasible.
When people come to Ireland with a non-exchangeable licence, they may obtain an Irish licence through the standard statutory process. A person with a full but non-exchangeable licence can avail of shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons, instead of the usual 12, and they do not have to wait 6 months before taking a driving test. Further details can be found on the National Driver Licence Service website at www.ndls.ie.
The Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) (Ukraine) Order 2022, which came into effect on 22 April 2022, allows Ukrainians admitted to Ireland as residents under the Temporary Protection Directive to exchange their Ukrainian licences for Irish licences. Such licences are valid for 12 months and only apply to category B (cars and light vehicles). This is a short term measure, taken in response to the immediate and extraordinary humanitarian crisis arising from the conflict in Ukraine.
