David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

371. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department is considering changes to the current driver licensing regulations for holders of foreign licences in particular for holders of a full US licence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15619/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is a distinction between motorists with a foreign driving licence visiting Ireland and those living in Ireland. For non-residents, currently under the Convention on Road Traffic 1949 (Geneva Convention), drivers from Contracting States carrying a valid driver’s licence can drive on each other’s roads for up to a year when visiting. Residents in Ireland must have an EU licence.

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).

The RSA has previously explored reaching agreement on exchange with the USA. However, US driver licensing operates at state rather than federal level, meaning that there are 50 licensing systems with widely varying standards and indeed widely varying road safety performance, many with levels of road fatalities significantly worse than most EU countries.  Agreement with any one state would mean taking into account the exchange relations between that state and the other 49.  The RSA determined that agreement would not be possible, without endangering road users in Ireland.

When people come to Ireland with a non-exchangeable licence, we have no option but to require them to go through the process of obtaining an Irish licence.  This is a matter of public safety.  While many may have a safe driving record, we have no way of measuring this. 

People with a full but non-exchangeable licence go through the normal driver learning process but can avail of the shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons instead of the usual 12, and they do not have to be a learner for the usual minimum of 6 months before taking a driving test.

Some might have preferred to abolish the EDT altogether for people in this position but it is clear that some lessons would be useful in helping people to adjust to Irish driving rules and conditions and in preparing people for the driving test.