I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to prioritise driver licence exchange agreements. Reviewing parliamentary questions placed by my party colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, in the previous term and questions from at least ten TDs in this term, Ministers advised that it is a matter for the Road Safety Authority to recommend, following a detailed examination of the licensing system in a third country, whether or not to engage in the licence exchange agreement. People appreciate that there could be a degree of technical complexity in terms of the reciprocal exchange of driving licences. More recently, as the campaign to make real progress on exchanges with the United States has gained momentum, Ministers have expanded on that explanation, saying we operate within the EU framework, standards are set at EU level, there is a technical road safety-based process and that this is not a matter of political will. This is what we have been told by the Government until now. I commend Safe Home Ireland and the Irish-US Drivers Licence Campaign on their recently published report, Irish-US Driver’s Licence Campaign: Easing the burden on our returning citizens. I also welcome Ciarán Staunton, the co-chair of the campaign, who is in the Gallery today with Damian Greene. Both organisations have done incredible work over recent years supporting members of the Irish diaspora seeking to return home. Ciarán's work with and among the Irish in the United States has been incredibly important over many years. What this report brings to light is that for all of the complexity we have been told about over the many years, there is perhaps a degree of this matter being about political will. The Minister of State can have the political will. There is certainly a need for common sense by all. Road safety is paramount, of course, but we are talking about people who may have had Irish driving licences for decades and who may not have had to do a test had stayed in Ireland. We are also talking about people who are free to drive in Ireland for up to one year but it becomes an issue after that. In fact, in one instance, I read about an Irish citizen who had obtained a US licence, exchanged it for a Belgian one, returned to Ireland, drove for six years and then had to sit the Irish driving test. We all need to agree that it is not about road safety. It sounds as if it is more about bureaucracy. Further to this report, I have a number of specific questions for the Minister of State, and I would appreciate if he would provide clarity. While we all accept the reciprocal approach when we think about, we also accept that under Irish law exchanges do not necessarily need to be reciprocal as in the case with some of the arrangements in place already with Austria, Belgian, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Portugal. When we see so many awaiting driving tests, I think we all agree on a need for simplification. I would appreciate a response from the Minister of State to this very important report.
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, for the offer to engage with the RSA. The gentlemen in the Gallery will be delighted with that response because it is something that we do need to move on. Ireland has asked a lot of our diaspora and they have answered time and again, particularly the Irish community in the United States, whether with political support or interventions regarding the Good Friday Agreement or Brexit, economic support or remittances during times of famine, funds that supported the fledgling Government during the Tan war, foreign direct investment and even supporting the tourism sector to this day. We have been less consistent in relation to what we have to offer our diaspora. This is the bare minimum we can do, especially at a time when the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is actively encouraging people to return home to rebuild Ireland. It would make sense, it would be straightforward and it would make it possible for these people to return home. In that context, I note the programme for Government speaks of prioritising agreements with states from which Ireland can source professional drivers. Given the shortages that makes complete sense. However, in terms of returning emigrants, the language is much softer. The Government needs to work to facilitate the easier return to Ireland for emigrants, including reciprocal driving licence arrangements. Can we recognise where there are solutions, such as those brought forward in this report? I commend this report, which is great. It would be very useful for the RSA to engage with this as well as evidenced in the examples set by other states. The failure to prioritise our diaspora means that we do not have such an agreement or arrangement in place today. Can we agree today that the Department of Transport will ensure that it and the RSA will give equal priority to agreements and solutions for returning Irish citizens?
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A solution-----
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I know.
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