On 21 June 2016 I posed the following question to which I received a written reply. I acknowledge that the Tánaiste has been trying to help me with it. My question was:

To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there is a protocol in place for British driving licences to be recognised in the State or if they will have to be replaced with European Union driving licences for the purpose of British citizens living and working here who still drive on their British driving licence and in the event of Britain leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I will not go into the detailed reply I received. However, there is an issue which I raised with the Tánaiste last week. I have met constituents who have been informed that when they go to change their licence under which they have cover for a commercial vehicle, they will not be covered for it; they will only have cover for a car. As I cannot receive clarification, I would like somebody to clarify the matter for me because it is causing difficulty. I was told the same would apply to a minibus driver. The last part of the written reply stated: "The Deputy may wish to know, however, that under international road traffic conventions, holders of foreign licences may drive in Ireland for up to a year on a visitor basis". I ask for clarification as to what that means.

If the Deputy wants, I can try to come back to him later with a detailed answer.

My understanding, in simple terms, is that a person can continue to drive in Ireland on a British licence if he or she is visiting Ireland, but if that person is permanently resident in Ireland and driving on a British licence, he or she needs to swap that licence for an Irish licence before Britain leaves the European Union in the context of no deal. If there are more complex cases of commercial licences that may involve multiple vehicles and so on and if the Deputy wants to come back to me, I can get him detailed answers on those cases.