Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address a matter (details supplied) in relation to the renewal of driver licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41969/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland received authorisation from the EU to extend driving licences that expire between 1 July and 31 October 2021 for an additional 10 months. This authorisation was received on 30 June under EU Regulation 2021/267 and was applied on 2 July 2021.

When the extension was applied, the expiry date on the driver file for each person affected was updated to the new expiry date. It is not possible to extend or not extend individual driving licences. By law, a driving licence cannot be renewed more than 3 months before the expiry of the licence.

Where required, a medical report or eyesight report must be dated not more than one month prior to the date of application. This is to ensure that the most up-to-date assessment of the applicant is provided.

I am aware that some people seeking to renew their licences may have obtained medical reports that are no longer required, owing to the extension of their licences. However, for all classes of licence where a medical report is required, it is the applicant's responsibility to provide this and there is no mechanism to reimburse individual applicants.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider allowing qualified drivers from Ghana to drive lorries in Ireland due to the fact that many companies are having difficulty recruiting drivers in Ireland at the moment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42007/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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An Irish or EU driving licence is required in order to drive in Ireland. To be licensed to drive on Irish roads, a person must meet the high standards of safety of the driving test set out in national and EU legislation.

A person with a non-EU driving licence can exchange their licence for an Irish licence if there is an exchange agreement in place with that country. Otherwise, they will have to go through the normal process of obtaining an Irish licence. An Irish licence can only be issued to a person resident in Ireland.

Reaching a driving licence exchange agreement with another country is a comprehensive process carried out between the statutory licensing agencies in each state. To ensure the safety of road users, such agreements can be made only when the relevant authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the two licensing regimes and are satisfied that they are comparable. If standards and procedures are not comparable, the process does not continue.

For Ireland, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority. The exchange agreement process generally takes over a year of ongoing engagement, from initiation to completion, to provide the thoroughness required to ensure the safety of Irish road users.

The RSA is currently considering licence exchange agreements with several non-EU licensing authorities. However, licence exchange agreements with non-EU countries will not provide a short-term solution in Ireland to the worldwide shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers and pursuit of such arrangements without proper examination of standards of training and testing would represent a significant potential risk to other road users.