Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have one final question. It relates to somebody who lives in the North, who has a Northern driving licence and who may want to become a taxi driver in the South. I am talking specifically about Dundalk, which will not come as a shock to anybody. The problem is that this person is not able to take the small public service vehicle test because a Southern driving licence is required in order to do so. If we go through what the requirements specifically state, someone with a licence from an EEA country, or a recognised state, needs to get the okay from the embassy. When we contacted the NTA regarding this matter, however, we did not get a reply indicating how it is done. The NTA just stated that it would refund the money on the basis that this individual had not been told he or she would not be able to take the test.

We all know that every town in Ireland is crying out for people to drive taxis. We have a number of individuals who are willing to do it. A number of people fall into that bracket and are licensed, but they will also fall into the Northern licence bracket in the next while. The fact is that we do not need an Irish solution whereby people get a Southern licences on the basis of having southern addresses when they actually live in the North. That is grand until they are stopped in their own vehicle on which there is a Northern number plate. There are also a pile of difficulties relating to customs and all the rest. What needs to be done to sort this out?