Diaspora Issues
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

I spoke to some of our diaspora directly when I was in New York. I see the frustration. This is something we all want to get over the line. We have committed to it previously and are working on it. We have driving licence exchange agreements with 21 jurisdictions, from Australia to Canada and everywhere in between. We are now working on concluding agreements with the US. One of the challenges is that every exchange has to be concluded at a state level, meaning we cannot do just one agreement and it has to be on an individual basis. While there has been widespread political agreement on both sides, it has taken longer than anybody would have liked.
There are three areas in particular where engagement is taking place, namely, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. I am assured by my colleagues based in the US that they are in consistent and regular engagement on this. Whatever needs to be done on this side, there is a commitment from our Minister and our Government to move it as quickly as possible. However, I do appreciate there is frustration. When we want people to come home, we want to make sure it is as easy as possible for them, but this work is under way and we hope to have it over the line for many of these states as soon as possible.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01