Under EU legislation we have mutual recognition arrangements for driver licence exchange with our fellow Member States. The first EU driver licensing Directive was Directive 80/1263. This and subsequent Directives provide for recognition of EU licences. The identities of the Member States are a matter of public record, as are the dates of accessions of States joining the EU since 1980.
As part of the EU framework we also recognise licences from the following European Economic Area States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and we recognise licences from the Gibraltar as a British Overseas Territory.
Ireland does not have bilateral arrangements with provinces or other non-state entities. We have recognition arrangements with the following States, entered into in the following years:
- Japan 1990
- Australia 1993
- Isle of Man 1993
- Jersey 1993
- Switzerland 1993
- South Africa 1994
- South Korea 1999
- Guernsey 2007
- New Zealand 2010
- Taiwan 2010.
I outlined the current status of negotiations with Canadian provinces in my reply to Question 1172 of 16 July 2013. There are no other such negotiations currently in progress.
I would be happy to consider exploring further possible exchange arrangements where appropriate. At present there are discussions under way at EU level on the preparation of guidelines for mutual recognition with non-EU States, and I do not propose to consider any further arrangements until these guidelines have been agreed.
