S.I. No. 235/2020 - Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2020

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th June, 2020.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 5 (1) and 42 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 makes the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2020.

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

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

3. Where a learner permit granted in accordance with Regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations expires during the period -

(a) beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending on 30 June 2020, the learner permit shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 8 months and the date of expiry shall be 8 months after the expiry date specified on the permit, or

(b) beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 October 2020, the learner permit shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 4 months and the date of expiry shall be 4 months after the expiry date specified on the permit.

4. Where a learner permit, granted in accordance with Regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations, is a permit to drive vehicles of more than one category and an expiry date, by category, occurs during the period -

(a) beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending on 30 June 2020, the learner permit in respect of the category concerned shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 8 months and its period of validity shall be extended by 8 months, or

(b) beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 October 2020, the learner permit in respect of the category concerned shall be deemed to have been granted for an additional period of 4 months and its period of validity shall be extended by 4 months.

5. The Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 125 of 2020 ) are revoked.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport,

26 June, 2020.

SHANE ROSS,

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 expand the extension of validity of learner permits provided for by the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 125 of 2020), which were brought in as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A learner permit that expired during the period beginning on 1 March 2020 and ending on 30 June 2020 has now been extended for a further 4 months from the original 4 month extension provided. The learner permit extension shall now be deemed to have been granted for a period of 8 months and the date of expiry shall be 8 months after the expiry date specified on the permit.

Learner permits that are due to expire during the period beginning on 1 July 2020 and ending on 31 October 2020 will now be extended for an additional 4 months. The date of expiry for these permits shall be 4 months after the expiry date specified on the permit.

The above extensions apply to all the categories listed on the learner permit from the date of expiry for each category.