Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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96. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will examine the anomaly by which those driving on full driving licences from other countries, who have either moved to or returned to live in Ireland, are treated as unqualified drivers and must undertake lessons, a test and so on (details supplied). [48871/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Driver licensing laws are intended to ensure drivers on our roads meet high safety standards. Irish driver licensing legislation operates within EU law and testing standards are set at EU level.

An Irish driving licence can be renewed up to 10 years after the date of expiry of the licence. After that, if a licence is not renewed, a person is no longer considered a qualified driver.

Ireland may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange with non-EU jurisdictions. This is not a straightforward matter and reaching an agreement is not a matter of political will. The core principle is to ensure the continued safety of Irish road users. Agreements can be made only when the authorities in both jurisdictions have studied and compared the licensing regimes and are satisfied that they are compatible. For Ireland, this is undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Ireland does not have a licence exchange agreement with the USA. The RSA previously explored licence 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 road safety performance, many with road fatality levels significantly worse than most EU countries. Agreement with any one state would mean taking into account the exchange relationships between that state and the other 49. The RSA determined at the time that agreements would not be feasible.

A person resident in Ireland must have an Irish or EU driving licence to drive here. When people come to Ireland with a non-exchangeable licence, they must go through the normal process of obtaining an Irish licence. A person with a full but non-exchangeable licence can avail of shorter Essential Driver Training of 6 lessons instead of the usual 12, and does not have to wait for the minimum of 6 months before taking a driving test. This requirement assists people to adjust to Irish driving rules and conditions and to prepare for the driving test. Further details can be found on the National Driver Licence Service website at www.ndls.ie.