Driving licence D1

Goreybhoy

Hi Can anyone kindly advise me on this, i have an english driving licence which amoungst other classes i have on it a D1 & D1E am i right in saying that i can drive a mini van with passengers?? reason i'm asking is i have the oppertunity of a job driving special needs kids to and from day care facility will this cover me to drive here in ireland?? thanks in advance

tom traubert

Yes, you may drive a mini bus/van with provision for up to 16 passengers. If you are now full time resident in Ireland you are supposed to exchange your UK licence for it's Irish equivalent.

The link below shows what licence category D1 covers you to drive. Note that the minimum age is 21. Also click on the link on the left of the page regarding holders of foreign licences, residency etc etc. All the info. you need is on that site.

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Licensed-Drivers/Driving-licence/About-your-license/Driving-license-categories/

CiniO

Goreybhoy wrote: »

Hi Can anyone kindly advise me on this, i have an english driving licence which amoungst other classes i have on it a D1 & D1E am i right in saying that i can drive a mini van with passengers?? reason i'm asking is i have the oppertunity of a job driving special needs kids to and from day care facility will this cover me to drive here in ireland?? thanks in advance

Your D1 category permits you to drive a minibus with maximum of 17 seats (driver + 16 passengers).
D1E permits you to drive that minibus and tow a trailer heavier than 750kg.

It doesn't matter if licence is English or Irish.

However if you want to work as a driver, you will need CPC qualification.
Assuming your D1 licence was issued before 10th September 2008, you got that qualification automatically. But you should have completed one day training every year since then.
I assume you didn't do that, so you will need to complete all modules due (by 10th September 2012 it must be 4 modules).

Goreybhoy

tom traubert wrote: »

Yes, you may drive a mini bus/van with provision for up to 16 passengers. If you are now full time resident in Ireland you are supposed to exchange your UK licence for it's Irish equivalent.

The link below shows what licence category D1 covers you to drive. Note that the minimum age is 21. Also click on the link on the left of the page regarding holders of foreign licences, residency etc etc. All the info. you need is on that site.

http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Licensed-Drivers/Driving-licence/About-your-license/Driving-license-categories/

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Thanks Tom, much appreciated i had another reply from ciniO who reckons i would need a CPC if i am doing this for a living/work is this the case do you know just want to be prepared just in case i get to the interview stage
thanks again
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Marcusm

But will Mrs Cousins give you the job?

Welease

Just a word of warning..

I had all of those categories on my UK licence (incl. motorbikes etc.).. it ran out about 12 months ago so I swapped it for an Irish licence.
All categories were transferred across except D1 & D1E.. When I queried why, I was told I that as I hadn't taken a specific test for those categories they wouldnt be transferred.. This didnt seem right ao I queried further, and the head supervisor came out and confirmed there was no transferral of that category..

So if you need it for the job, either get the test done, or extend your UK licence..

(They transferred A1, A, B, C1, E+B, E+C1, M and W)

keithclancy

tom traubert wrote: »

If you are now full time resident in Ireland you are supposed to exchange your UK licence for it's Irish equivalent.

No such requirement,

I had all of those categories on my UK licence (incl. motorbikes etc.).. it ran out about 12 months ago so I swapped it for an Irish licence.
All categories were transferred across except D1 & D1E.. When I queried why, I was told I that as I hadn't taken a specific test for those categories they wouldnt be transferred.. This didnt seem right ao I queried further, and the head supervisor came out and confirmed there was no transferral of that category..

They were making things up, should have checked why, not recognising a category is in violation of 91/439/EEC

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0439:EN:HTML

Only things that they can impose are:

3. Where the holder of a valid national driving licence takes up normal residence in a Member State other than that which issued the licence, the host Member State may apply to the holder of the licences its national rules on the period of validity of the licences, medical checks and tax arrangements and may enter on the licence any information indispensable for administration.

Welease

keithclancy wrote: »

They were making things up, should have checked why, not recognising a category is in violation of 91/439/EEC

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0439:EN:HTML

Only things that they can impose are:

Well they may well be.. but it doesn't change the fact that they wouldn't put them on my current licence (and may not for the OP). I'd be interested to know if anyone did manage to get them transferred across (as I'd be interested in recontesting this issue with the office).

keithclancy

Welease wrote: »

Well they may well be.. but it doesn't change the fact that they wouldn't put them on my current licence (and may not for the OP). I'd be interested to know if anyone did manage to get them transferred across (as I'd be interested in recontesting this issue with the office).

Just open a case with Solvit:
http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/site/index_en.htm

Costs nothing and you can ask them to intervene on your behalf.

You will need the reason why the said they wouldn't transfer it.

But its definitely the case that if its recognised in one EU State, it must be recognised in another.

Welease

keithclancy wrote: »

Just open a case with Solvit:
http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/site/index_en.htm

Costs nothing and you can ask them to intervene on your behalf.

You will need the reason why the said they wouldn't transfer it.

But its definitely the case that if its recognised in one EU State, it must be recognised in another.

Thanks.. I also had a quick check of the RSA site and it doesnt mention anything about not being able to carry D1 across..

Who is responsible for the actual licence in Ireland? It was issued at the motor tax office in Kildare, so does that make it Kildare CoCo responsibility or RSA etc? (I'd like to contact them seperately also).

Edit - looks like its the RSA.. I'll email them tomorrow. Thanks,.

btard

Welease wrote: »

Thanks.. I also had a quick check of the RSA site and it doesnt mention anything about not being able to carry D1 across..

Who is responsible for the actual licence in Ireland? It was issued at the motor tax office in Kildare, so does that make it Kildare CoCo responsibility or RSA etc? (I'd like to contact them seperately also).

Edit - looks like its the RSA.. I'll email them tomorrow. Thanks,.

Kildare mto would have issued the licence but it's the RSA who are reponsible for the terms. You could contact the RSA but I will save you the trouble.

The D1 and D1E licence you had on your UK licence would have had a restriction on it. It means you can drive that class of vehicle but 'not for hire or reward ' There is no equivalent class in Ireland. That's why they can't put it on your Irish licence. If you had passed a test in that class there would be no restriction on it and would have been transferred when you exchanged you UK licence.

Btw, contrary to what another poster stated, supervisors in mto's tend not to make things up.

keithclancy

btard wrote: »

Kildare mto would have issued the licence but it's the RSA who are reponsible for the terms. You could contact the RSA but I will save you the trouble.

The D1 and D1E licence you had on your UK licence would have had a restriction on it. It means you can drive that class of vehicle but 'not for hire or reward ' There is no equivalent class in Ireland. That's why they can't put it on your Irish licence. If you had passed a test in that class there would be no restriction on it and would have been transferred when you exchanged you UK licence.

Btw, contrary to what another poster stated, supervisors in mto's tend not to make things up.

Ah right, D1/D1E is a National Category in the UK only, not valid elsewhere.

Well that would explain it then.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_4011275.pdf

But they could have at least explained that.

Welease

btard wrote: »

Kildare mto would have issued the licence but it's the RSA who are reponsible for the terms. You could contact the RSA but I will save you the trouble.

The D1 and D1E licence you had on your UK licence would have had a restriction on it. It means you can drive that class of vehicle but 'not for hire or reward ' There is no equivalent class in Ireland. That's why they can't put it on your Irish licence. If you had passed a test in that class there would be no restriction on it and would have been transferred when you exchanged you UK licence.

Btw, contrary to what another poster stated, supervisors in mto's tend not to make things up.

Ahh ok.. that makes sense.. I had just emailed the RSA, but it sounds like I will get exactly the same answer from them.

So it sounds like the OP will likely have the same issue then if they ever try and transfer their licence (on the assumption they only took the standard driving test)..

Thanks for the clarification.

bugsntinas

i've often thought of changing my uk licnse for irish as we've been here 8years and intend to stay, the gards gave me a form to fill out and asked if i'd considered changing as it's not law but to date i haven't.but with this thing of catagories being left off makes me think i won't bother.i past my test over 27 years ago and had many a job driving mini buses and 7.5 ton trucks so i don't see why it should change.my id card part ran out a couple of years ago but the license run until '34 i think and i've had no trouble hiring van with the out of date part.

banjolin

Been trying to get the truth about this issue of licence transfers for five years, and this this is the first time anyone has been able to explain it in plain English. So, there is no real advantage to having a D1 on a UK licence if you wish to drive for hire in Ireland. It doesn't allow it there and it doesn't allow it here. Simples. Bit of a bummer, actually.

OP should be ok as UK licence does cover driving special-needs vehicles.

Goreybhoy

banjolin wrote: »

Been trying to get the truth about this issue of licence transfers for five years, and this this is the first time anyone has been able to explain it in plain English. So, there is no real advantage to having a D1 on a UK licence if you wish to drive for hire in Ireland. It doesn't allow it there and it doesn't allow it here. Simples. Bit of a bummer, actually.

OP should be ok as UK licence does cover driving special-needs vehicles.

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Thanks Guys, a lot of info there and much appreciated, so reading all posts looks likely i will hold on to UK licence as driving on D1 is ok for mini bus. Fingers crossed on the job front it may not lead to anything but at least i will know if it ever arises again