asked the Minister for the Environment how long more an endorsement made in 1976 will remain on the driving licence of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 1.
Written Answers. - Dublin Driving Licence Endorsement.
562.
Section 36 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, provides that where an order for endorsement of a licence is made by a court and the person concerned is not at the time the holder of a licence, the endorsement shall be made on any licence subsequently granted to him. Section 37 of the Act provides for the carry over of endorsements on a driving licence to subsequent driving licences. Under this provision a person whose licence has been endorsed must, before he can obtain a licence free from that endorsement, satisfy the licensing authority that he has held a licence either during a continuous period of not less than three years or a series of discontinuous periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than five years after the date of the original endorsement.
In the case referred to by the Deputy a court order for the endorsement of the licence was made on 7 April 1976. The person in question did not hold a licence at that time. The first licence granted to him after the date of the court order was a provisional licence valid for the period 4 May 1982 to 3 May 1983 and this licence was duly endorsed. He was subsequently granted provisional licences valid from 20 January 1984 to 19 January 1985 and from 10 May 1985 to 9 May 1986 and both these licences have been endorsed. The earliest date on which he will be entitled to a licence free from that endorsement will be 10 May, 1988. This will be conditional on his ensuring that he holds a licence continuously during this period, i.e. that there is no break between the date of expiry of one licence and the commencement date of the next licence. Otherwise, he will have to hold a licence for two broken periods of 12 months each after 9 May 1986 in order to make up the aggregate period of five years.