Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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298. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address concerns raised by a person (details supplied); the reason persons with a full driver licence obtained abroad are compelled to undergo further testing once resident in Ireland; his views on whether this is a discriminatory practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14541/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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There is a distinction between motorists with a foreign driving licence visiting Ireland and those living in Ireland. 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.

Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. It is important to remember that driver licensing law exists to ensure that people licensed to drive on our roads meet high standards of safety. The standards for testing drivers are set at EU level.

As such, all EU driving licences are exchangeable when a person moves from one Member State to another. In the case of non-EU jurisdictions, we may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange. These agreements can be made only when the relevant authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the two licensing regimes, so that each side can be satisfied that they are compatible. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

In the absence of an exchange agreement, we have no option but to ask people to go through the necessary steps to obtain an Irish licence, as per the applicable EU legislation. 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. However, as a holder of a full but non-exchangable licence, an applicant can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons instead of the usual 12, and will not have to wait the usual minimum of 6 months before taking a driving test.