Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to give the Deputy a very firm date because this is quite a complicated legal issue. Identity verification is difficult. I am as enthusiastic as he is to resolve this problem and see that there will be no overriding obstacle to asylum seekers getting driving licences. The key difficulty in issuing driving licences to asylum seekers, however, is identity verification. Ireland has determined that the appropriate level of ID verification is the standard referred to as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment, SAFE, level 2. Asylum seekers come to the jurisdiction with a variety of documentation or, potentially, in some cases with no documentation at all. Verification of ID to SAFE 2 level may be, practically speaking, impossible in some cases. If we are considering issuing driving licences to asylum seekers then it would be possible to take one of the three positions. It would make sense to issue licences only to asylum seekers whose ID would be verified to SAFE 2 standard.

There is obviously also the problem of the post-refusal of asylum. In cases where a person was refused asylum he or she would no longer have a right to remain in the jurisdiction. It is surely arguable in such cases that the individual is no longer normally resident - one of the qualifications - and therefore no longer eligible to be issued with a licence. A decision would then have to be made as to whether a driving licence issued to an asylum seeker should be cancelled if his or her application for asylum is rejected.

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