Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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249. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties experienced by drivers who have taken up normal residence in Ireland within the past 12 months and need to exchange their driver licences; and if he will consider an extension to the one-year timeframe in view of these difficulties. [13040/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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A person can drive on a foreign licence for up to a year as a visitor to Ireland. This provision is provided for under the 1949 Geneva Convention. A person resident in Ireland must have an Irish or EU driving licence to drive here.

The current average processing time for exchanging a licence is 12 -15 working days, but can take up to 3 months depending on the licence and the necessary checks that have to be made. The recent extension of validity for Irish driving licences will ease the pressure on the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) and is expected to reduce processing times.

Under the current Level 5 restrictions, appointments for attendance at an NDLS centre are only available to essential workers. An application for a licence exchange can be made online if the applicant has a verified MyGovId account which requires a Public Services Card.