Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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827. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of his efforts to secure mutual recognition of driving licences between Ireland and the United States of America; the timeframe for progressing this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5975/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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​Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law, which among other matters sets minimum standards for obtaining a driving licence.  As such, there is mutual recognition of driver licence exchange with all fellow EU Member States.  In the case of non-EU jurisdictions, we can make bilateral arrangements on mutual exchange.

Making bilateral agreements on driver licence exchange is not a straightforward matter.  It involves the licensing authorities in each jurisdiction comparing the two licensing regimes closely so that each side may be satisfied that they are compatible.  On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

The RSA looked into the possibility of mutual recognition of driving licences with the USA some years ago.  However, driver licensing in the USA operates at State rather than Federal level.  This means that there are 50 different systems in operation, with a wide range of different standards applied to getting a licence.  The RSA concluded that it would not be practicable to make 50 separate arrangements, each of which would in turn have to take account of arrangements for exchange which these States have with each other.

Persons coming to Ireland on a licence which is not recognised for exchange may drive here on their own licence on a visitor basis for up to a year.  After that, they must acquire an Irish licence by going through the Irish learner driver process.  They are however not required to wait the usual 6 months as a learner before taking the driving test.