Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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521. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a person (details supplied) with a driving licence can avoid the obligation of taking a number of driving lessons before sitting a driving test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41392/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law, which sets common standards of obtaining a licence for all Member States. As a consequence, all EU licences are mutually exchangeable. In the case of non-EU jurisdictions we may reach bilateral agreements on the exchange of licences. There is no bilateral agreement in place with Mexico.

In the absence of an exchange relationship, we have no option but to ask people to go through the necessary steps to obtain an Irish licence. I appreciate that this creates a burden in terms of time and cost for people who have, in many cases, a long record of safe driving.

The biggest difficulty, in both time and cost, is with the mandatory 12 Essential Driver Training (EDT) lessons. My Department is currently working on proposals from the RSA for a 'Short EDT' for drivers with full licences from non-exchange countries. It is my intention that this system will be in place from the beginning of 2018.