Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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1056. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress made in having Quebec added to the reciprocal agreement for driving licence exchange; when he envisages it to be included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46780/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law, in accordance with which we have mutual recognition of exchange of driving licences with all other EU Member States.  In the case of jurisdictions outside the EU, we may reach bilateral agreements on reciprocal exchange of licences.

The work of reaching an agreement is not straightforward.  It depends on the relevant authorities on each side comparing the two licensing regimes in detail so that each can be satisfied that the two regimes are compatible.  On the Irish side this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Canada operates driver licensing at provincial rather than national level.  For some time now the RSA has been engaging with the authorities in the Canadian provinces with a view to reaching agreement on exchange of licences.  We now have four such agreements in place, which between them cover over half of the population of Canada. 

The RSA is continuing to work with the other provinces, including Quebec, with a view to reaching agreement.  It is not possible at this stage to say when an agreement with Quebec will be reached.