Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 636: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason a person who has approximately 40 hours driving instruction in the United Kingdom is required to undertake 12 one hour lessons prior to taking their driving test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28153/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Under measures which I introduced last year as part of the Graduated Driver Licensing system, learner drivers in Ireland must now take a course of twelve mandatory lessons before doing the driving test. The requirements are set out in the Road Traffic (Courses of Instruction) (Learner Permit Holders) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 173 of 2011).

The Regulations specify in detail the contents of the required lessons, and also that these lessons must be taken with an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI), i.e. a person entered in the Register of Approved Driving Instructors maintained under Regulation 17 of the Road Traffic (Driving Instructor Licensing) (No. 2) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 203 of 2009). These Regulations are aimed, inter alia, at guaranteeing standards over which Ireland has control in terms of the lessons covered and the qualifications of the instructors. As matters stand, all learners are required to take the same set of lessons with an instructor whose qualifications we can verify. Lessons taken in another jurisdiction, while they may be of use to the learner, do not meet these requirements, and of course do not take account of particular aspects of driving in Ireland, such as Irish Rules of the Road or signage regulations.