Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 7th September, 2012.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5 (1) and section 42 (inserted by section 10 of the section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 2006 , as adapted by the Transport (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 ( S.I. No. 141 of 2011 ) for the purposes of giving effect to Commission Directive 2011/94/EU of 28 November 2011¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 19 January 2013.

2. The Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 537 of 2006 ) are amended-

(a) in Regulation 10, by substituting for paragraph (1) the following:

"(1)(a) A driving licence shall be in scheduled form D.402 and shall comply with the provisions of Annex 1 to Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006² .

(b) In driving licence form D.402-

"Date of issue" indicates the date on which the driving licence concerned comes into force;

"Date of expiry" indicates the date on which the driving licence concerned expires;

"Valid from" indicates the date on which the licence holder first held a driving licence in the category concerned;

"Valid to" indicates the date on which the licence expires in respect of the category concerned;",

(b) in Regulation 17(1), by substituting for subparagraph (b) the following:

"(b) In learner permit form D.202-

"Issue date of permit" indicates the date on which the learner permit concerned comes into force;

"Expiry date of permit" indicates the date on which the learner permit concerned expires;

"First issue date, by category" indicates the date on which the permit holder first held a learner permit in the category concerned;

"Expiry date, by category" indicates the date on which the permit expires in respect of the category concerned.",

(c) in Regulation 32(4)(b), in the Table to that Regulation-

(i) by substituting-

(I)"EST" for "EE",

(II)"H" for "HU",

(III)"LT" for "LI",

(IV)"SLO" for "SI",

(V)"UK" for "GB",

(VI)"Slovakia" for "Slovak Republic", and

(ii) by adding to the Table the following:

",

and

(d) in Schedule 1 (as inserted by Regulation 2(b) of the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 544 of 2010 )) by substituting-

(i) for Form D.202 - learner permit, the form specified in Part 1 of the Schedule to these Regulations, and

(ii) for Form D.402 - driving licence, the form specified in Part 2 of the Schedule to these regulations.

SCHEDULE

Part 1

"Form D.202 - learner permit

Side 1

Side 2

"

Part 2

"Form D.402 - driving licence

Side 1

Side 2

"

GIVEN under my Official Seal

3 September 2012.

LEO VARADKAR,

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 driver Regulations in order to comply with the requirements of Commission Directive 2011/94/EU.

1 OJ No. L 314, 29.11.2011, p. 31.

2 OJ No. L 403, 30.12.2006, p. 18.