Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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276. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of Irish drivers who have received an international driving permit in each of the past four years; the costs associated in awarding these permits; the most popular countries for which Irish drivers have obtained an international driving permit; his views on the security features in the international driving permit; if he is satisfied with the corresponding use of international driving permits here by non-European Union drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25419/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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​The International Driving Permit (IDP) is issued in Ireland by the Automobile Association (AA), and my Department is not involved in operational details.  I have therefore referred the Deputy's request for figures relating to the IDP to the AA for direct reply. In relation to the security issue, the IDP is not a driving licence but, in essence, a translation of an individual's national licence into an internationally recognised format. The format itself is determined by international agreement going back to the 1920s, and individual countries cannot therefore change it.  As the IDP is not a licence, when a person travels using an IDP, they can be required to produce their own national licence as well. 

Similarly, it is a matter of long-standing international conventions that visitors can drive here for up to a year on their national licence.  These do not necessarily have to be accompanied by an IDP, but the IDP can be of assistance to An Garda Síochána, particularly in cases where the national licence is in an unfamiliar language or script.