S.I. No. 299/2020 - Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 7) Regulations 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 11th August, 2020.

I, Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5(1) and 23(2) (inserted by section 57 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 (No. 25 of 2010)) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (No. 24 of 1961) and the National Roads and Road Traffic (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 298 of 2002 ) (as adapted by the Transport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 ( S.I. No. 141 of 2011 )), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 7) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations and the Principal Regulations shall be construed together.

2. In these Regulations -

“applicable period” means the period beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending on 31 August 2020;

“Principal Regulations” means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 537 of 2006 ).

3. Where the date of expiry of a driving licence granted in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Principal Regulations occurs during the applicable period, the driving licence shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 7 months and the date of expiry shall be 7 months after the date of expiry specified on the licence.

4. Where a driving licence, granted in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Principal Regulations, is a licence to drive vehicles of more than one category and a category is valid to a date that occurs during the applicable period, the driving licence in respect of the category concerned shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 7 months and its period of validity shall be extended by 7 months.

5. The Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 127 of 2020) are revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

8 August, 2020.

EAMON RYAN,

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

These Regulations amend the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 537 of 2006 ) to provide an extension to the validity of certain driving licences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Driving licences that expired or are due to expire between 1 March 2020 and 31 August 2020 have been extended for 7 months. The date of expiry for these licences shall be 7 months after the expiry date specified on the licence.

The above extension applies to all the categories listed on the driving licence that have expired, or will expire, during the applicable period, from the date of expiry for each category.

The Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 127 of 2020) are revoked.