Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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151. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to abolish the current system used by the Road Safety Authority requesting disqualified drivers to surrender their licences by post to an RSA PO box in Cork, resulting in an only 5% compliance rate; his plans to put in place a fit-for-purpose system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29458/24]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The requirement for a disqualified driver to surrender their licence is set out in the Road Traffic Act 2002 and the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 (SI 537 of 2006). Failure to comply with the requirement to surrender a licence is an offence.

Enforcement of road traffic legislation is a matter for An Garda Síochána. Since 2014, Gardaí have had the power to arrest those suspected of driving while disqualified. Data is provided by my Department to An Garda Síochána by electronic transfer each week on disqualified drivers. An Garda Síochána use this data to populate their Pulse system. This is an important tool in dealing with drivers who continue to drive while disqualified.

A driver remains disqualified for the period of the disqualification, whether or not they have surrendered their licence. The substantive issue from a road safety perspective is not disqualified drivers failing to return their licences, as this can be detected at the roadside, but the disqualified drivers who choose to continue to drive.

My officials will review the requirement for a disqualified driver to surrender their licence in the context of the upcoming Driving Licence Directive, which proposes the introduction of a standard digital driving licence format, and ongoing development of roadside access to and verification of driver details.