S.I. No. 529/2025 - Road Transport (Operator’s Licence Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 7th November, 2025.

I, SEÁN CANNEY, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 2 (6) of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006 (No. 28 of 2006) (as adapted by the Transport, Tourism and Sport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 ( S.I. No. 351 of 2020 )), and the Transport (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2025 ( S.I. No.144 of 2025 ), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Transport (Operator’s Licence Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2025.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 10 November 2025.

2. In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the Road Transport (Operator’s Licence Application) Regulations 2018 (S. I. No. 398 of 2018) (as amended by the Road Transport (Operator’s Licence Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S. I. No. 210 of 2023)).

3. Regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations is amended –

(a) by the substitution for the definition of “Department” of the following:

“ ‘Department’ means Department of Transport;”,

(b) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘Annex’ means Annex 31 (Transport of Goods by Road) to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement;

‘business address of the operator’ means a premises in the State at which an operator—

(a) is able to access the originals of its core business documents, whether in electronic or any other form, including its transport contracts, documents relating to the vehicles at the disposal of the operator, accounting documents, personnel management documents, labour contracts, social security documents, documents containing data on the dispatching and posting of drivers, documents containing data relating to cabotage, driving time and rest periods, and any other document to which the Minister requires access in order to verify the operator’s compliance with the conditions laid down in the EU Regulation, and

(b) effectively and continuously conducts its administrative and commercial activities with appropriate equipment and facilities in accordance with Article 5(1)(f) of the EU Regulation;

‘operator’ means, as the case may be, the holder of, or an applicant for, an operator’s licence;

‘Trade and Cooperation Agreement’ means the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, done at Brussels and London on 30 December 2020;

‘transport manager’ means a person employed by an operator or, if that operator is an individual, that person or, where provided for, another individual designated by that operator by means of a contract, who effectively and continuously manages the transport activities of that operator;

‘transport officer’ means a person appointed under section 15 of the Road Transport Act 1986 (No. 16 of 1986) or section 16 of the Road Transport Act 2011 (No. 31 of 2011).”.

4. The Principal Regulations are amended by the substitution for Regulations 3, 4 and 5 of the following:

“3. (1) An application for an operator’s licence shall, subject to subparagraph (2), be made electronically on the internet using the online application form made available by the Department.

(2) Where a person satisfies the Minister that he or she is unable to submit an application in accordance with subparagraph (1), the Minister may, at his or her absolute discretion, accept an application using a paper application form made available by the Department.

4. An operator shall, as part of an application under Regulation 3 for a national or international road haulage operator’s licence, provide the Minister with the information set out in Schedule 1.

5. An operator shall, as part of an application under Regulation 3 for a national or international road passenger operator’s licence, provide the Minister with the information set out in Schedule 2.”.

5. Regulation 6 of the Principal Regulations is amended:

(a) by the substitution of “information” for “documentation”,

(b) by the substitution for paragraph (d) of the following:

“(d) a declaration, made available by the Department, completed by the operator and any person who is the holder of a specified position with the operator, stating any convictions or penalties incurred by such persons within the previous 5 years:

(i) in the State or another Member State for a serious infringement of the rules relating to matters specified in points (a) and (b) of the third subparagraph of Article 6(1) of the EU Regulation, and

(ii) where applicable, in the United Kingdom or in the State or another Member State for a serious infringement of the rules specified by Title I of Heading Three of Part Two of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement or of laws relating to the matters specified in paragraph (b) of Article 6(1) of Section 1 of Part A of the Annex”,

“(ea) if required by the Minister, a copy of the contract specifying the tasks to be performed on an effective and continuous basis by the designated transport manager of the operator,”,

(d) in paragraph (j)–

(i) by the substitution for subparagraph (v) of the following:

“(v) confirms the operator’s agreement that by providing the operator’s tax reference number issued by the Revenue Commissioners, the Department may verify with the Revenue Commissioners-

(I) the operator is in compliance with obligations imposed on the operator by taxation requirements and has delivered all taxation returns to the Revenue Commissioners, and

(II) the number of persons employed by that operator on 31 December of the previous year, for the purpose of recording that information in the register referred to in Article 16 of the EU Regulation and established under section 12 of the Road Transport Act 2011 ;”,

(ii) by the substitution for subparagraphs (vii) and (viii) of the following:

“(vii) the operator agrees to comply with any requirements that form part of the application process and abide by any terms and conditions attached to a road transport operator licence that may be granted to that operator pursuant to an application for a licence under these Regulations,

(viii) the operator does not know of any reason why an operator’s licence should not be granted to the operator,

(ix) the operator effectively and continuously conducts its administrative and commercial activities from the business address of the operator and manages its transport operations in accordance with Article 5(1)(f) of the EU Regulation, and

(x) the operator confirms that the core business documents referred to in Article 5(1)(a) of the EU Regulation shall be available for inspection by the Minister or a transport officer at the business address of the operator declared for the purpose of obtaining a road transport operator’s licence.”.

6. Schedules 1 and 2 to the Principal Regulations are substituted for the following:

“SCHEDULE 1

Regulation 4

Information required for a Road Haulage Operation Licence application

TYPE OF LICENCE REQUIRED

What type of licence is required?

National Road Haulage Operator Licence

International Road Haulage Operator Licence

Previous Licence Number (if any)

APPLICANT DETAILS AND ESTABLISHMENT
Name of applicant
Business address of operator
Eircode
Is the business a:	Sole Trader Company Co-operative Partnership
Office phone number
Office e-mail address
In the case of a company, state the Companies Registration Office registration number
If a trade or business name is registered with the Companies Registration Office, state the registration number
If a trade or business name is registered with the Companies Registration Office, state the name
Tax Reference Number
Number of Employees
DETAILS OF RELEVANT PERSONS
Name
Address
Eircode
Mobile telephone number
E-mail address
Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
Date of Birth
Position in operator

VEHICLES TO BE USED UNDER THE LICENCE
Vehicle Registration Number
Is the vehicle leased or hired?	Yes No
Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence valid until
Vehicle operating centre (including Eircode)

TRANSPORT MANAGER DETAILS
Name of transport manager
Connection to the road transport operator	Genuine Link External contractor
Address
Eircode
Mobile
Telephone
E-mail Address
Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Country of issue of Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC)
Transport Manager’s CPC Number
Date of issue of CPC
Type of CPC	National International

SCHEDULE 2

Regulation 5

Information required for a Road Passenger Operation Licence application

TYPE OF LICENCE REQUIRED

What type of licence is required?

National Passenger Operator Licence

International Passenger Operator Licence

Previous Licence Number (if any)

APPLICANT DETAILS AND ESTABLISHMENT
Name of applicant
Business address of operator
Eircode
Is the business a:	Sole Trader Company Co-operative Partnership
Office phone number
Office e-mail address
In the case of a company, state the Companies Registration Office registration number
If a trade or business name is registered with the Companies Registration Office, state the registration number
If a trade or business name is registered with the Companies Registration Office, state the name
Tax Reference Number
Number of Employees
DETAILS OF RELEVANT PERSONS
Name
Address
Eircode
Mobile telephone number
E-mail address
Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
Date of Birth
Position in operator

VEHICLES TO BE USED UNDER THE LICENCE
Vehicle Registration Number
Is the vehicle leased or hired?	Yes No
Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence valid until
Vehicle operating centre (including Eircode)

TRANSPORT MANAGER DETAILS
Name of transport manager
Connection to the road transport operator	Genuine Link External contractor
Address
Eircode
Mobile
Telephone
E-mail Address
Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Country of issue of Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC)
Transport Manager’s CPC Number
Date of issue of CPC
Type of CPC	National International

”.

GIVEN under my hand,

5 November 2025

SEÁN CANNEY,

Minister of State at the Department of Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations update the legislation to reflect changes in the application process for a road haulage transport operator’s licence and a road passenger transport operator’s licence, including: the information to be provided in support of an application; provision of the operators’ tax reference number; agreement that the Department of Transport may verify information provided by the operator with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.

The Regulations also provides additional clarity to certain definitions within domestic legislation, and confirms the operator agrees to comply with any requirements that form part of the application process and abide by any terms and conditions attached to a road transport operator licence.

The Regulations give effect to obligations set out in Regulation (EC) 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.