Last week in the Dáil, I spoke of how two of my constituents were refused an exchange of their Belgian driving licences and will have to get provisional licences and retake the test. As they live in rural west Cork, they are essentially going into Covid lockdown for five months, unable even to get to the shops for a bottle of milk. This is the case the length and breadth of this island for many people. It is demeaning, distressing, unfair, extremely expensive and an unnecessary burden.

Irish citizens left Ireland in the difficult times to find work in the USA. Many are now looking to return to Ireland to raise their families or retire, bringing with them their skills and wealth. We are telling these Irish citizens, many of whom have been driving for over 40 years and originally held Irish licences, that they now need to get L-plates to drive in their own country. Our younger citizens have been driven abroad in a time of full employment by the high costs of housing. Now we are trying to attract back the skilled doctors, nurses, construction workers and engineers the country badly needs but when they come back, they cannot drive to their jobs.

The IDA has been working tirelessly in this difficult global environment to attract and retain companies from the USA to invest in our economy and create high-paying jobs, but the senior executives of those companies are being told they have to put L-plates on their company BMWs. This country should be better than that. Many in the Dáil may be familiar with former GAA president Larry McCarthy, who returned to Ireland in 2021 and had to hire a driver so he could do his job, despite having originally held an Irish licence and then a US licence for 37 years.

As an immediate action, will the Tánaiste direct the Minister for Transport to require the Road Safety Authority, RSA, and the National Driver Licence Service, NDLS, to revise their policy and recognise previous Irish driver licences without the ten-year limit? This is a straightforward action that would have zero impact on road safety. It would immediately support the Irish diaspora and returning Irish citizens. In parallel, as a solution to the broader problem, will the Tánaiste request the RSA and the NDLS to develop a proposal for a pragmatic and risk-based process for exchange of foreign driving licences, building on best practices and precedent from other EU countries?

The current RSA approach of seeking reciprocal driving licence agreements with individual US states is getting us nowhere. I am not surprised as I have not been able to find a single example where an EU country has a reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement with even one US state, most likely because US state licensing regimes are incompatible with EU standards. I expect the Minister and RSA are well familiar with that fact. I know we are unlikely to meet the commitments made in the programme for Government. Instead, Ireland can and should follow the example of many European countries such as Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Austria and Portugal, which have a unilateral licence exchange process, which includes the USA, operating in tandem with these reciprocal agreements. The RSA should leverage practices and precedents from our EU partners in a risk-based manner to revise our current restrictive system.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There are probably two parts to the question. The first part relates to the ten-year limit after which the licence expires. My understanding is that because our Irish driving licence operates within a framework of EU law, the driving licence legislation is EU legislation which all member states must comply with. I always get nervous saying that as though we are blaming the EU. We are part of the EU so we can always explore these issues with partners. However, the standards for testing drivers are set at an EU level. The benefit for all of us is that opting into this EU system enables us to have a driver's licence that works across the European Union. Rather than it being an impediment to an Irish citizen, it is a great gift with the primary benefit of allowing a universal EU licence. That is of huge benefit to people from Ireland and across the 27 member states. I understand an Irish driving licence can be renewed in Ireland up to ten years after the date of expiry; after this time, the licence cannot be renewed and the person is no longer considered a qualified driver. On foot of the Deputy raising this today, I will explore this further but that is the best information available to me.

The second point relates to our diaspora. I have to acknowledge this comes up a lot. In my past posting, when I met Irish people abroad who were considering coming home, the issue of the driving licence came up time and again. The Deputy is right to highlight it. Our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is leading for the Government on this in the context of the new diaspora strategy. I was going to say that we are working through this and trying to reach agreement on it with a number of US states, but the Deputy has expressed concerns about the speed of that. I will ask the Minister of State to come back to him directly on that. He is doing some very good, focused work with our embassy and consular network in the US. They have started with states where there is a high number of Irish people, which makes sense. I will also ask the Minister of State to reflect on what the Deputy said about learning from other EU countries which, he perceives, do this in a more efficient or effective way. He mentioned Belgium and a number of others. The way we do it at the moment is this: Ireland may make bilateral licence exchange agreements with non-EU jurisdictions. It is a technical and independent process. Reaching agreement is therefore not just a matter of political will; it has at its core competency around road safety, which is something we all take very seriously. I am told that on average the technical independent assessment process takes approximately two years. On foot of the Deputy raising this matter today, and given that we will have a new diaspora strategy next year, which the Minister of State is currently finalising and will bring to the Government next year, I will ask that he specifically reflect on the issue of reciprocal arrangements in relation to driving licences.

I thank the Tánaiste very much for his reply. I ask the Government to get rid of the ten-year limit on Irish licences for returning emigrants.

These are people who passed a test in Ireland, held an Irish licence and currently have a valid driving licence. To now deny them a licence is arbitrary, unjust and indefensible. This is a slap in the face to Irish citizens returning home. This is not how we should be treating our people.

It has zero impact on road safety. This straightforward action would immediately support the Irish diaspora and returning Irish citizens. The ten-year-old limit is not required under either Irish law or EU law.

It is in the programme for Government to resolve that, so the Government has discussed this around the table. Last week I sent this correspondence to the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, and he forwarded it to the NDLS. That is kicking the can down the road. We cannot kick the can down the road on this issue. It is hugely important that we deal with that issue immediately. As far as I am concerned, the senior Minister could amend this requirement tomorrow with the stroke of a pen. Can that happen?

Without being argumentative, I am not sure he can, based on the information available to me on the importance of anything we do in Ireland being in line, in relation to that ten years, with European legislation, but let me check on foot of the Deputy raising it here today. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond.

What we certainly can do, though, is look at how we can get those reciprocal arrangements in place. We are determined, not only at a political level but from the Irish ambassador to the United States down in terms of our diplomatic network there, that there is real work going on in terms of trying to reach those agreements.

The Deputy is right to identify the issue, as the programme for Government does, because we want Irish people back in this country. We want their ingenuity. We want their contribution. We want to bring people home. Often we need their skills as well. Their families want them back. This is something that comes up as a barrier in the long list of things people are trying to work through when planning on relocating to Ireland, perhaps with a family and the likes, and if there are hurdles we can remove here, we certainly should. I will speak to the relevant Ministers on foot of the Deputy raising this and in the background of our new national diaspora strategy.