Over 70s won’t have to provide a medical report when applying for or renewing their driving licence until June.
On Sunday, Minister of State in the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD (FG) announced the extension and cited the surge of COVID-19 cases and attempting to ease the burden on medical services as factors in the decision.
“This means that persons of 70 years of age or over can apply for, and renew, their driving licence without the need to submit a medical report, on the condition that they do not have an identified or specified illness and are not applying for a truck or bus category. This extended measure will eliminate the need for our drivers over the age of 70 from having to make an unnecessary journey to their GP, or to the NDLS centre, as we continue to work to minimise social interactions in our efforts to tackle COVID-19,” she stated.
Naughton confirmed that the extension will now run until June 2021. All drivers who are over 70 years of age will be contacted directly with an application pack which will allow them to apply for a new licence by post. The NDLS service, which is managed by the RSA, will be sending out application packs to those eligible to apply by post in the coming weeks. The pack will include a partially completed application form that the customer must complete. Those drivers who have the option to apply online can do so at any time at www.ndls.ie .
