Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I have mentioned here before, driver licences cannot be renewed online and the situation affects the undocumented Irish in America. A passport is the most important document that a person can have yet it can be renewed online or through the post office. One must show up in person at a particular office to collect a driver licence. It is a huge problem for Irish people who live abroad. Recently I was in Boston to attend a wedding and four young people approached me to tell me they had no driver licences. In America when a police officer stops a person the first thing he or she will ask for is a driver licence. People abroad cannot get a driver licence unless they come home and present themselves at the appropriate office. I ask the Minister and Minister of State to ask the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to put a system in place that caters for Irish people who are abroad, particularly the undocumented Irish people who are in the United States. They are particularly worried now due to the pledge by President Trump to tackle the problem of illegal people in the United States. Can the Minister and Minister of State discuss the matter with their colleagues in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport?