Returned emigrants and people who have moved from the United States to Ireland are urging the Government to simplify a "painful" and "burdensome" process for obtaining an Irish driving licence.
A report from the Irish-US Driver's Licence Exchange Campaign said the lack of licence exchange agreements is a major hurdle for people planning to move home.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show the number of people moving from the US to Ireland almost doubled between April 2024 and April 2025, rising from 4,900 to 9,600.
Ireland has no reciprocal licence-exchange agreement with any US state. Irish citizens with a US licence cannot exchange their licence for an Irish licence.
A licence from an EU member state is valid in Ireland and need not be exchanged, although the driver may choose to do so.
That is not the case for expats with US licences.
The holder of a national driving licence from any country that does not have an exchange agreement with Ireland may drive here while a visitor for up to 12 months.
If they remain, they must exchange their licence if eligible to do so.
If not, they must pass a theory test, apply for a learner permit, complete essential driver training and pass a driving test.
Once obtained, the Irish learner permit takes precedence over the full foreign driving licence and rules of learner permits apply.
Co-authors of 'Easing the Burden on Our Returning Citizens' Damian Greene and Larry Donnelly described the requirements as "burdensome and unnecessary".
The Irish-US Driver’s Licence Exchange Campaign says many people are confronting a problem that has been addressed by other EU countries.
Mr Greene said their review of Irish and EU law and practices identified several possible solutions.
Both Mr Greene and Mr Donnelly have called on the Government to prioritise agreements with US states that already have EU agreements, allow unilateral and reciprocal recognition of foreign licences, as is the case with other EU countries and reinstate Irish licences expired for more than 10 years where the person holds a current licence abroad.
Report Co-author Larry Donnelly believes the Minister for Transport could immediately amend the relevant statutory instrument to address the 10-year licence expiration.
"With so many people impacted by this painful process, we urge that this happens as soon as possible," Mr Donnelly said.
The report also notes that 29 US states have reciprocal exchange arrangements for non-commercial licences with France and/or Germany, which it said shows alignment can be achieved where standards are agreed.
It also highlighted that 21 states, including New York and New Jersey, have no exchange deals with any EU country - one reason it argues Ireland should consider a unilateral recognition route alongside reciprocal agreements.
A spokesperson for Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said the Department of Transport is in the process of reviewing the report it received last week.
They added that both he and Minister of State Seán Canney are strongly committed to fulfilling a commitment contained in the Programme for Government to secure reciprocal driving licence agreements as one of the measures to ease the burden on those looking to return to Ireland.
The spokesperson said as the US driver licensing operates at state, rather than federal level; accordingly, there are 50 licensing systems, with widely varying standards and road safety performance.
"Agreement with any one state would mean taking into account the exchange relationships between that state and the other 49," they said.
Minister Canney told RTÉ News that officials have ongoing engagement with the states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts to create reciprocal license exchange.
"That work is ongoing. In relation to the report that has been published, it’s a very worthwhile document. My department will be reaching out to the authors. We will be meeting with them very soon," Minister Canney said.
The assessment process for a possible licence exchange agreement between the licencing authorities is technical in nature.
