Learner drivers should only be allowed four consecutive learner permits if they do not pass their driving test, the Department of Transport has suggested.
Currently a learner driver can have an unlimited number of learner permits if he or she does not pass their drive test.
The incoming ministerial briefing for transport given to the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has recommended that four should be the limit for learner driver permits. Currently the first two learner driver permits last two years each and subsequent ones one year each. There is no current limit.
It would mean that after six years a learner driver would have to begin the process again with a theory test, apply for a learner permit, 12 mandatory lessons and a driving test.
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The time to renew an expired permit will be reduced from five years to two years.
The illness concession, whereby a learner who did not sit a test because of ill health may still renew their permit, will be discontinued.
The brief also suggests there should be no more than two consecutive learner permits without taking a driving test.
Elsewhere, the briefing document suggests that MetroLink, which will connect Dublin Airport to the city centre, could cost €23.4 billion excluding VAT if delivered.
The preliminary business case provided a range of potential costs from €7.16bn to €12.25bn in 2021 prices, all excluding VAT, with the report of the Department of Public Expenditure major projects advisory group suggesting a possible upper range of €23.39bn, also excluding VAT.
The briefing states that the Government will endeavour to lift the passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
It says the minister can have “no role” in lifting the 32 million passenger cap as it is a planning matter between DAA and Fingal County Council.
However, it went on to state that the High Court has referred a number of legal questions relating to the cap to the Court of Justice of the European Union. That case could take 18 months.
In the meantime, DAA can press ahead with its planning application to increase the number of passengers to 36 million and then its infrastructure application, which would increase the cap to 40 million.
The Operational Application has recently been deemed invalid by Fingal County Council and DAA is considering next steps following this decision.
[ Dublin Airport faces further delays on passenger cap decisionOpens in new window ]
The ministerial briefing says there are funding pressures this year, but the National Development Plan for the period 2026 to 2030 is “largely adequate to deliver on the ambition of the NDP as published in 2021 in relation to new national roads”.
These include the Adare bypass, which will be ready in time for the Ryder Cup in 2027; the N5 between Ballaghaderreen and Scramoge; the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy; and, if given approval this year, the N3 Virginia Bypass, the N4 Carrick on Shannon to Dromod, the M/N20 Cork to Limerick and the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction.
