Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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262. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider putting in place a provision for Irish persons living abroad who hold a full Irish driver licence which they can use in the country in which they are residing, such as Australia, and where they need to replace their driver licence but will not be returning to Ireland during the period when the licence is due for renewal. [21726/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law which sets a number of requirements in relation to the issuing of driving licences. Driving licences issued by one Member State are inter-exchangeable between EU States.  An Irish licence holder, living temporarily in another EU country can renew their existing licence by post, without returning to Ireland to appear in person at an office of the National Driver Licensing Service, or if taking up permanent residence may exchange their existing Irish licence for the local equivalent.

Under EU law, Member States issue driving licences to persons 'normally resident' in their jurisdiction. When a person travels to a non-EU country and is resident there temporarily for work or study purposes, they are still considered to be normally resident in their national State and may therefore renew their licence. In such specific instances Irish regulations reflect this, and allow persons in non-EU countries, such as Australia, to renew their licence from abroad by post.

For persons who have taken up residence in non-EU countries, EU Member States may reach bilateral agreements on the exchange of driving licences.  Ireland in fact has such an agreement in place with Australia.  An Irish licence holder taking up residence in Australia can therefore exchange their Irish licence for an Australian one. If they later move back to Ireland, they may exchange the Australian licence for an Irish one.​