Almost 3,000 learner and novice drivers will be contacted about a reduction in the maximum number of penalty points they can receive before being disqualified.
It follows new legal advice to the Department of Transport in relation to changes introduced on 1 August 2014, which reduced the penalty point disqualification threshold for learner and novice drivers.
Until that date, a learner driver was subject to the same rules as a person holding a full driving licence in that they would be disqualified from driving if they accumulated 12 points on their licence record.
As part of the Road Traffic Act 2014, which introduced the concept of novice drivers, the 12-point threshold was reduced to seven points for anyone "who at the time such points are endorsed is a learner driver or a novice driver".
A novice driver is a person who has held their first full driving licence for two years or less.
Until now, the Department interpreted this to mean that the change only applied to people who entered the driver licensing system on or after 1 August, 2014.
Legal advice received by the Department at the time meant that any learner drivers who had been in the system before that date would be subject to the standard threshold of 12 penalty points.
However, the Department said that under new legal advice it is now also applying the seven-point threshold to all learner and novice drivers who entered the system before that date.
"If someone who is a learner or a novice receives seven or more penalty points while a learner or a novice on or after 1 August 2014, they should face disqualification," the Department said.
"Also, if the total of points held before that date plus points received after that date reaches or exceeds 12 points, they will be disqualified," it said.
The Department said no driver will be disqualified immediately as a result of the change because people are entitled to be advised of disqualification.
Such learner or novice drivers currently with seven or more points will only be disqualified if they receive additional points from six weeks after receiving the letter and the total remains at or above seven.
"Should any affected person incur additional penalty points from six weeks after their notification date, which results in them having seven or more points on their licence while still a novice or learner driver, they will then be disqualified," it said.
All drivers affected will be contacted personally in writing by the Department of Transport, to notify them on the impact of these changes.
It said it found no evidence that any affected drivers have been involved in fatal or serious collisions while they should have been disqualified.
