Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the Deputy's concerns about trying to expedite this. The February 2022 date will depend on the legal advice and the availability of drafting resources. I take Deputy Moynihan's point regarding the pressure on GPs at the moment. In order to address the social distancing requirements and the additional burdens on our medical services during the pandemic, the requirement for those over 70 to provide a medical report was temporarily removed in order to protect our citizens and take pressure off our medical services. From March 2020 to June 2021 people aged 70 or over could apply to renew their driver licence without a medical report where they did not have an identified or specified illness. To date, there has been no indication of any negative effects on road safety because of this concession.

I take the Deputy's points on board and if I can get more information on that February 2022 timeline, I will revert to him on it.

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