Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2022
128. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Transport the measures that he is taking to address the delays in persons with non-European Union driving licences having to retrain; if his attention has been drawn to reports of the difficulty to secure driving lessons to meet the requirements of the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25732/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIrish 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 holder of a member state issued licence who moves to Ireland can drive on that licence until the licence expires. On expiry, the licence holder can then exchange their licence for an Irish licence.
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.On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). Ireland has licence exchange agreements in place with a number of non-EU countries where we are satisfied that the standards they require of their drivers are similar to ours.When people come to Ireland with a non-exchangeable licence, we have no option but to require them to go through the process of obtaining an Irish licence. While many may have a safe driving record, we have no way of measuring the standard of the driving test passed to obtain the licence.
People with a full but non-exchangeable licence go through the normal driver learning process but can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons instead of the usual 12, and do not have to hold a learner permit for the usual minimum of 6 months before taking a driving test.
Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) are regulated by the Road Safety Authority, but are self-employed. Consequently, my Department does not have any jurisdiction over the number of hours an ADI chooses to work in a given week.
There are approximately 1,800 ADIs in Ireland, and I am confident that this number is sufficient to meet the demand of all those requiring lessons.
