Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has already himself confirmed that asylum seekers in other EU states have access to a driving licence. The challenges, therefore, are not insurmountable.

The Minister needs to set a tight timeframe so that we have something to work towards. If he does not set such a timeframe, this problem will have the potential to go on and on. People who come to my clinic and I am sure other clinics want to work and are eligible to work, but they cannot get to work because they live in areas where they do not have access to public transport to bring them to work. The Minister spoke about the continued eligibility of someone who has been refused the right to remain. I remind him that people lose their driving licences every day of the week. It is not an insurmountable problem. I ask the Minister to put in place a tight timeframe we can work towards to ensure people who want to go out to work can access motor cars to enable them to do so.

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