S.I. No. 172/2026 - Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) (Moldova) Order 2026

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) (Moldova) Order 2026.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 27 April 2026.

2. In this Order, “Regulations of 2006” means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 (

S.I. No. 537 of 2006

).

3. It is declared that a licence or permit permitting a person to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle, not being a licence or permit issued to a person to enable that person to learn or provisionally to drive a vehicle, issued by the competent authority of Moldova, is recognised for the purpose of exchange of that licence or permit for a driving licence, in respect of any one or more of the categories in respect of which the licence or permit is held that corresponds to a category mentioned in the Table to Regulation 6 of the Regulations of 2006.

4. A licence or permit issued by the competent authority of Moldova in respect of a category that corresponds to a category mentioned in column (1) of the Table to Regulation 27(3)(a) of the Regulations of 2006 may be exchanged for a driving licence in the category set out in column (2) of the Table opposite the mention in column (1).

5. A licence or permit issued by the competent authority of Moldova to only drive a vehicle with automatic transmission (within the meaning of the Regulations of 2006) shall be exchanged for a driving licence to drive a vehicle with automatic transmission in the category concerned.

6. This Order does not apply to a licence or permit issued by the competent authority of Moldova in exchange for a licence or permit issued by a state other than the State, another Member State or a state in respect of which an order under section 23A of the

Road Traffic Act 1961

(No. 24 of 1961) applies.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

15 April, 2026.

DARRAGH O’BRIEN,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(

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

)

This Order recognises Moldovan driving licences for driving licence exchange purposes under section 23A of the

Road Traffic Act 1961

. An Irish driving licence, granted in exchange under this Order for a licence or permit issued by the Moldovan authorities to only drive a vehicle with automatic transmission, will permit a person to drive a vehicle with automatic transmission only.

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

28

th April,

2026.

I, DARRAGH O’BRIEN, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 23A of the

Road Traffic Act 1961

(No. 24 of 1961), hereby order as follows