Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 September 2021
104. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider allowing qualified drivers from Ghana to drive lorries in Ireland due to the fact that many companies are having difficulty recruiting drivers in Ireland at the moment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42007/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn Irish or EU driving licence is required in order to drive in Ireland. To be licensed to drive on Irish roads, a person must meet the high standards of safety of the driving test set out in national and EU legislation.
A person with a non-EU driving licence can exchange their licence for an Irish licence if there is an exchange agreement in place with that country. Otherwise, they will have to go through the normal process of obtaining an Irish licence. An Irish licence can only be issued to a person resident in Ireland.
Reaching a driving licence exchange agreement with another country is a comprehensive process carried out between the statutory licensing agencies in each state. To ensure the safety of road users, such agreements can be made only when the relevant authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the two licensing regimes and are satisfied that they are comparable. If standards and procedures are not comparable, the process does not continue.
For Ireland, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority. The exchange agreement process generally takes over a year of ongoing engagement, from initiation to completion, to provide the thoroughness required to ensure the safety of Irish road users.
The RSA is currently considering licence exchange agreements with several non-EU licensing authorities. However, licence exchange agreements with non-EU countries will not provide a short-term solution in Ireland to the worldwide shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers and pursuit of such arrangements without proper examination of standards of training and testing would represent a significant potential risk to other road users.
