Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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43. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will include driver’s licences issued in the United States among those that can be exchanged for an Irish driver’s licence in order to facilitate the return of Irish emigrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23051/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Irish driver licensing law operates within a framework of EU law. Driver licensing laws are intended to ensure drivers on our roads meet high safety standards. Testing standards are set at EU level.

Ireland may make bilateral agreements on licence exchange with non-EU jurisdictions, This is not a straightforward matter. Reaching them is not a matter of political will and the core principle is to ensure the continued safety of Irish road users. Agreements can be made only when the authorities in each jurisdiction have studied and compared the licensing regimes, so that each side is 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 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 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.

In order to drive here, people with a non-exchangeable licence who come to reside in Ireland must obtain an Irish licence. A person with a full but non-exchangeable licence must 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.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The exchange of foreign licences is managed through the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS). Currently, the average processing time for applications is 32 working days.

There are various reasons for possible delays in processing foreign licence exchanges. For example, the driver may need to submit outstanding information, such as a medical or eyesight report or the physical driving licence itself in the case of an online application. The most common reason is that the NDLS is awaiting verification of the driving licence from the other driving licence authority. At times a response is received very quickly but at others it can take a considerable amount of time.

Vigilance is needed when processing a licence for exchange, to ensure a fraudulent document has not been submitted and to ensure a driving test was passed in the country in which the licence was obtained. Road safety and keeping Irish roads safe for all road users remains the priority in this matter.