Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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770. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to recognise the driving licences of other EU countries; and his further plans to develop a system whereby holders of EU licences can be punished for driving offences here. [11321/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​I am pleased to advise the Deputy that there is already mutual recognition of driving licences across the EU, and a licence from another Member State can be exchanged for an Irish one if the holder takes up residence here. There is no cross-border mechanism at present for the mutual recognition of penalties for road traffic offences for such licence holders. However, the Road Traffic Act 2016 provides for mutual recognition of disqualified drivers between Ireland and the UK. I expect that actual recognition of driving disqualifications of UK residents and persons holding UK driving licences who have been disqualified here for relevant road traffic offences and vice versawill commence by June 2017. By that time all the necessary administrative arrangements including the necessary parliamentary procedures in the UK should be in place so that the consequences of relevant serious driving offences worthy of driving disqualification will follow the offender back to their own jurisdiction.