S.I. No. 483/2011 - Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2011.

1. The Road Safety Authority shall have in place quality assurance arrangements to provide for the maintenance of standards of driver testers.

2. Quality assurance arrangements shall involve the supervision of driver testers at work, their further training and reaccreditation, their continuing professional development, and periodic review of the outcomes of the driving tests that they have conducted.

3. Each driver tester shall be subject to yearly supervision making use of these quality assurance arrangements. Each driver tester must be observed conducting tests at least once every 5 years, for a minimum period cumulatively of at least half a day, allowing the observation of several tests. When issues are identified corrective action shall be put in place. Supervision shall be undertaken only by persons authorised by the Road Safety Authority for this purpose.

4. The Road Safety Authority may determine that, where driver testers are authorised to conduct driving tests in more than one category, satisfying the supervision requirement in relation to tests for one category satisfies the requirement for more than one category.

5. The Road Safety Authority shall monitor and supervise the work of driver testers to ensure correct and consistent application of assessment. The Authority shall arrange that, in order to remain authorised, driver testers, irrespective of the number of categories for which they are accredited, undertake a minimum regular periodic training of 4 days in total per period of 2 years in order to—

(

a

) maintain and refresh the necessary knowledge and examining skills,

(

b

) develop new competences that have become essential for the exercise of their profession,

(

c

) ensure that they continue to conduct tests to a fair and uniform standard,

(

d

) ensure that a minimum periodic training of at least 5 days in total per period of 5 years is undertaken, and

(

e

) develop and maintain the necessary practical driving skills.

6. The Road Safety Authority shall ensure that specific training is given promptly to those driver testers that have been found to be seriously malfunctioning by the quality assurance system in place. The measures taken by the Authority may include the driver tester being subject to peer review, ongoing or intensive monitoring via direct supervision, retraining and examination of assessment competence.

7. The nature of periodic training may take the form of briefing, classroom training, conventional or electronic-based learning and it may be undertaken on an individual or group basis. It may include such re-accreditation of standards as the Road Safety Authority considers appropriate.

8. The Road Safety Authority may determine that where a driver tester is authorised to conduct driving tests in more than one category, satisfying the periodic training requirement in relation to tests for one category satisfies the requirement for more than one category, provided the condition set out in paragraph 9 is satisfied.

9. Where a driver tester has not conducted tests for a category within a 24 month period, the driver tester shall undertake a suitable reassessment before being allowed to carry out driving tests relating to that category. That re-assessment may be undertaken as part of the requirement set out in paragraph 5.

Part 5. Acquired rights

Persons authorised to conduct driving tests immediately before the commencement of this Schedule may continue to conduct driving tests and shall be subject to the regular supervision and quality assurance arrangements set out in Part 4.”

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

13 September 2011.

LEO VARADKAR,

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

These Regulations amend the driver licensing Regulations in order to comply with the requirements of Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and Council.

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

6 OJ No. L 124, 09.05.2002, p. 1

7OJ L 226, 10.09.2003, p. 4

8 OJ No. L 199, 31.07.1985, p. 56

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

27

th September

, 2011.

I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 38

(1) of the

Local Government Act 1955

(No. 9 of 1955),

sections 5

(1),

23

(2),

31

(2),

34

and

42

of the

Road Traffic Act 1961

(No. 24 of 1961),

section 2

of the

Road Traffic Act 2006

(No. 14 of 2006) 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

)), for the purpose of giving further effect to Directive No. 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006

1

, hereby make the following regulations