Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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694. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to harmonise the driving licence regime between Ireland and Canada; the progress that has been made on issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2860/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am in favour of reaching agreement with the Canadian authorities for mutual recognition of driving licences, as I have indicated on a number of occasions. The foundation of exchange relationships on driving licences with other jurisdictions is mutual examination of the driver licensing regimes to make sure that they are compatible. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). In Canada, driver licensing operates at provincial rather than national level. This means that agreements have to be reached with the individual provinces.

The RSA has been engaging for some time with a number of provinces in Canada, with the assistance of the Irish embassy in Ottawa, with a view to reaching agreements on mutual exchange. Some provinces in Canada were identified as places where there was the best opportunity for progress, and Ontario was treated as a priority due to the large number of Irish people now living there. The RSA has indicated to me that it is satisfied following discussions with Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador that agreement can be reached with those provinces on the exchange of driver licences. The RSA will be officially advising those provinces of this during the next number of days. The next step will be to conclude a formal agreement with those provinces (a type of Memorandum of Understanding). When this is done, I expect to sign the necessary regulations to give effect to the arrangements.