Ballinasloe District Court heard that a Brazilian man who had been given time by the Court to sit his driving test had gone to Portugal to do his test because there was no language issue for him there.
Judge James Faughnan was informed that the man in question had failed the theory test here and decided to give getting a licence a go in Portugal instead.
The Judge said it made sense as far as language issues were concerned, but he wondered how it would work in theory when someone with a Portuguese licence came back and there were matters of endorsements and penalty points to be considered.
He added that the law stated that anyone driving in Ireland on a foreign licence had to transfer to an Irish licence after 12 months. If this was not done, then the insurance would not be valid and they could be charged with driving without insurance which was the charge faced by the Brazilian defendant in the first place.
He said it was an interesting point and he would wait to see if the defendant came back with his Portuguese licence before dealing with the matter.
A Garda Sgt told the Court that it was quite common now for people living here to do their driving tests outside the country.
The issue was raised again in Tuam District Court on Tuesday when Judge Faughnan was again dealing with a case of a Brazilian national driving here without a valid licence. He was informed that a Brazilian licence could not be transferred for an Irish one but a Portuguese licence, Portugal being an EU member state, could. For this reason many Brazilians who wished to drive here are going to Portugal to get a licence.
An experienced Garda told the Judge that unfortunately many of these licences were being purchased online without a driving test being done.
This article is funded by Comisiún na Meán.
