Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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161. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider expanding the extension period for learner driver permits to cover those that were unable to access lessons during level 5 restrictions. [36891/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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A further 10-month extension to the validity period of learner permits was granted on 24 June, given the difficulties people were experiencing in obtaining or renewing a learner permit with Covid-19 restrictions in place.

This extension means that learner permits with an expiry date between 1 March 2020 and 31 July 2021 are being extended by 10 months, in addition to previous extensions granted. The extension works as follows:

- Permits that expired between 1 March and 30 June 2020, previously extended by 8 months, will now be extended by a further 10 months, so 18 months in total.

- Permits that expired between 1 July and 31 October 2020, previously extended by 4 months, will now be extended by a further 10 months, so 14 months in total.

- Permits that expired or will expire between 1 November 2020 and 31 July 2021 will be extended for 10 months.

A new learner permit will not be issued, but the electronic driver record will be updated to reflect the new expiry date. Drivers who are affected by the extension are encouraged to check the new expiry date of their learner permit by using the expiry date calculator on www.ndls.ie.