Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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127. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review a driver licence application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21995/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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All enquires relating to driver licensing are handled by the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS), the provision of which I have delegated to the Road Safety Authority under the relevant legislation. My Department does not have access to individual applications.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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128. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the extent to which his Department will review current procedures to implement an exchange system (details supplied) for Irish persons returning home from designated countries to avail of Irish driving licences under a similar policy to make it easier to move around and access work, school or other vital public services when home.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21996/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law, which sets out the driver licensing legislation with which all member states must comply. The format of driving licences, categories of vehicles, and the standards to be met in driving tests to qualify for a licence are all set at EU level.

Member states may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange with non-EU jurisdictions. Reaching a driving licence exchange agreement with another country is a comprehensive process carried out between the statutory licensing authorities 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. On the Irish side, this task is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority.

Ireland does not have a licence exchange agreement with Ukraine. The Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) (Ukraine) Order 2022, which came into effect on 22 April 2022, allows Ukrainians admitted to Ireland under the Temporary Protection Directive to exchange their Ukrainian licences for Irish licences. Such licences are valid for 12 months and will only apply to category B (cars and light vehicles). This measure was taken in response to the immediate and extraordinary humanitarian crisis arising from the conflict in Ukraine.