Americans who come to live in Ireland, as well as returning Irish citizens whose licences may have expired, still have to retake driving lessons and re-sit their tests, due to a lack of a reciprocal drivers' licence exchange.
Emily Ditkovski moved to Ireland from Los Angeles. Amid packing boxes and sourcing accommodation for her and her family, she had not realised she would also have to spend 12 hours retaking driving lessons with an instructor.
She drives from her home in Dublin to Kildare for her work as a theatre-maker and project manager at the Crooked House theatre company in Newbridge.
"In the US your licences are given out by the state," Ms Ditkovski explained. "You know when you're moving across the pond and adjusting to a new country there's so much to be taken care of, so much paperwork and it's been an extra stress having to manage all the logistics going into getting a licence."
She said she had "a lovely driving instructor" for her set of 12 lessons, adding, "so that wasn't too bad, but it was still 12 hours when I was trying to get settled".
Ms Ditkovski needs the car not only for her job but to bring her children to and from school.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Karen McHugh is CEO of Safe Home Ireland, a charity that has joined a dedicated Irish-US campaign to try to secure reciprocity.
Initially, the campaign is focusing on the seven US states with the biggest Irish populations or connections - Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, California and New Jersey.
"There are no arrangements in place, so what needs to happen is a person needs to start off from the very beginning again, so will need to do the theory test, and six lessons," Ms McHugh said.
This reduction from 12 to six required lessons can also be hard to secure because "that's only if you can prove that you have passed your test abroad in the US", she said.
"So it's quite a challenging, time consuming and expensive process for anybody returning to Ireland and a huge barrier to those who want to live here."
Ms Ditkovski said it was too late for her to get the proof she needed to cut the number of lessons required in half.
"You can do six instead of 12, but I didn't know that 'til I was here and you have to get your driving record released by the state and they will only send you a copy at your United States' mailing address which I don't have any more, so it's been quite difficult."
The same problem faces Irish citizens returning from the US if their Irish licence has expired.
Eileen Tansey spent 23 years living in the US before she moved back to Ireland with her American husband to help take care of her mother when she became ill.
Facing the prospect of having to retake driving lessons in order to exchange her US licence, she eventually found her driver's licence from Germany, where she had lived in the 1980s.
That licence was still valid and she was able to exchange it at the NDLS without a problem. However, her husband had to take the 12 lessons and she has joined the campaign to get the law changed.
Licence exchange agreements in Ireland are already in place for 21 other countries and jurisdictions including Australia and seven of the ten Canadian provinces.
France and Germany are among the European countries that have already established licence exchange agreements with some US states.
Sinn Féin TD Johnny Guirke referred to the issue in the Dáil last month as part of concerns raised by his party over the current driving test backlog.
He has argued that a bilateral agreement on drivers' licences should be enough to help more returning Irish and Americans take up jobs here, due to the current skills shortage.
It is an issue the Government has promised to examine.
Minister of State with responsibility for Diaspora Neale Richmond said: "A priority of mine is the pursuit of reciprocal driving licence arrangements within the United States ... I am committed to progressing this issue early on in my role. We have seen Germany make good progress in this area and I am very keen to follow their example."
However, the fact that US driver licensing operates at state rather than federal level makes the process more complicated as agreements would have to be made on a state-by-state basis.
In a statement, the Department of Transport said: "The establishment of these agreements is a technical process and agreements can only be made when both licensing authorities have studied and compared the licensing regimes and are satisfied they are compatible, including in relation to road safety issues."
The department said the Road Safety Authority is currently undertaking this process and also ensuring EU standards are adhered to.
People with a full US licence can drive in Ireland for up to a year on a tourist visa, before they have to exchange it, but the backlog in driver testing is also having an impact.
Safe Home Ireland said it is getting an increasing number of queries from Irish people living in the US who want to return here but are worried about this costly and time consuming barrier.
Ms McHugh said there are also "lots of other Americans who are interested in moving to Ireland. With that brings investment, it's a benefit for our society as well.
"We also have people who may be undocumented, who may need to return to Ireland and they've been driving and working in the US but then they come back and they're faced with this barrier and this wall which is hugely costly and challenging and time-consuming".
The problems were discussed recently by the Interdepartmental Committee on the Irish Abroad.
Whilst the pace of change working state-by-state is expected to be slow, Ms McHugh said work to facilitate the easier return to Ireland for emigrants is part of the commitments under the current Programme for Government.
"This campaign is not just about policies or agreements," she said. "It's about people. For Irish citizens working and living abroad like Eileen, this initiative will simplify life and foster a stronger connection to home."
Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien said he has initiated efforts to establish reciprocal driving licence agreements with the US, a significant commitment in the Programme for Government.
Initial discussions with some relevant stakeholders have taken place, and the Minister said he is committed to actively advancing this.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
