You should have told them that Dublin has the safest roads of all EU capitals.

Iceland uses the same paper license and many Icelanders live in Norway. Funnily they haven’t the same issues as “ConMan” claims he had. Ireland doesn’t need to copy what other countries do. We are an independent country and should not follow others like sheep.

Mark, you must really be attached to the pink licence, sorry if it upset you, maybe we should keep the old thing just so we keep our identity as a nation..

Mark it was an EU directive!we have to bring them in – no choice in it

I agree and 8e for 4 small photos is a rip off I’m delighted :)

Completely agree, we all have the tech to make our own photos, why do we have to visit the SGS office…

I hope all these professional photographers that are employed by the chemists are getting a good rate of pay and not the sales assistant rate.

Big brother style police state. God help Ireland. We should have the right to post our own photos and have them scanned onto license.

Justin, if you know what you are doing and have a decent printer you can always make the photos yourself,

Of course under the new rules you won’t be able to do this either anymore!

Barry I get a feeling that passports will go the same way here too. The big question is will the systems be linked so the same photo can be used.

I’d love to do either of these. Much simpler to just send it off. Instead we have to photographed by a council worker in person. Why for gods sake? No doubt their hours won’t suit anyone with an actual job, so we all have to use up our holidays as well to go get this stupid thing done.

Let us send in normal photos and stop this idiotic requirement.

@jane it wont be council workers as it wont be the council doing your licence come september.it will be a private company SGS they are the ones that want to bring in this whole thing of pictures.nothing to do with councils!

Exactly Ben. Passport photos are easily created at home with a printer for a fraction of the cost.
Templates here
http://www.persofoto.com/upload/

Being photographed is something a police state would do to its citizens. People should have the right to send their passport photos and have them scanned. I used my home printer and photo paper. I won’t be renewing my license in Ireland because I have privacy issues with someone taking my photo in a room. I’m not a criminal and strongly object to this big-brother system of being photographed.

I agree with you mark about the pictures.theres nothing wrong with the system thats in place-sending in your own photos!
I would think people would have a bigger problem with a private company doing your licence rather than the council!what happens when SGS dont want to do licences anymore it goes to tender again another company gets your personnel info

@Ben Gunn, how old exactly are you that you remember when “the motor car came alone” lol that’s a ridiculous comment and further more HMV have closed their doors most likely because of online downloads, streaming and piracy. So go on out of that, it is convenient for people to be able to have their photo done in this way otherwise there wouldn’t be a demand for it!! Not everyone is as tech savvy and brilliant as the GREAT Ben Gunn you know! The suggestion of a single company taking and dealing with this photo taking business is about as ridiculous as every other decision this government makes theses days, what a pack of total idiots!

Rob , it suits the punters that ordinary photographers [ including chemists] have agreement with Licence Authorities. Most counties will have only one centre under the proposed regime which could mean hours of travel for some people just to get a photo taken. Do you not care about that ?

Hours of travel??id say there is not many who are more than 30min from a proper place

Boo hoo, you will have go a little out of your way once a decade. There are plenty of things to be upset about Rory, this is not one of them.

Hours of travel? Where are you referring to,Texas?

“id say there is not many who are more than 30min from a proper place”

And your evidence?

Signed. ‘Conway’s Pharmacy’

It’s not really tough and to be honest I have just done my renewal, as per the form “enclose two photographed signed on the back” says nothing about where you get them on with the rsa website of the council one. Just says they have to be shaft and the right size etc because they have to scan them. So I’d be fairly sure that phhotos from chemists, photographers and DIY home printers are still ok.

If you live in a metropolis then 30 mins . If you life in a rural area ,could be hours

Getting a drivers license is now a tortuous bureaucratic process in Ireland. Having to go through 12 compulsory driving lessons (compared to 10 in most other EU countries) which now costs €480 is a massive amount. One driving lesson cost me €25 in 2004 – it now costs about €40. The fact the government mandated driving lessons means that diving instructors are free to charge whatever they like – totally unfair (in my opinion). In 2004, the system was a lot more progressive. If the concern is “safety” – enforcement by the traffic cops only works – not penalizing new entrants by more layers of bureaucracy. I speak with people who now go abroad to get their driving license because (1) unaffordable in Ireland and (2) a lot easier to earn than bureaucratic Ireland.

FYI, Fianna Fail created this bureaucratic system when they decided to take on more government workers in the months before the 2007 election (surprise, surprise!). Ok, you get the point. They unnecessarily created the RSA when they could have simply retained the Department of Transport as the main processor of driving tests, etc. Instead, they created yet more separate government departments which costs the exchequer hundreds of millions of euros to run every year. In effect, this means higher taxes and a more costly service.

so its all the driving instructors fault is it? check your facts please as you are incorrect re obtaining a licence in most eu states, try it in germany or france and see what u think

The problem is the privacy concerns of being photographed and the fact it borders on a big-brother style police state whereby people are photoed by someone else.

Lay off the weed Mark, its making you paranoid.

But Civil liberties issues surround the capture of a person’s (biometric) photo in a special room. – Something many people haven’t yet realized. I would much prefer to have my passport photo sent and scanned than having to get off work and go into a special room because I find it denigrating and consider a big-brother style police state.

In Spain and Greece, people still have the right to post their passport photo and have it scanned onto their license. It seems to work very well in those countries. But big brother Ireland decided to treat people like a prisoner by requiring them to come into a room and have their photo taken – too invasive, inappropriate and unnecessary. We are not a Nazi state. If other countries want to do different, it doesn’t mean Ireland should jump on the bandwagon. We are independent and don’t need to replicate what other countries do like a sheep.

Ireland is NOT Spain or Greece. Who gives a flying monkeys what other countries do different… You like Spain and Greece, stay there…blah,blah,blah,blah,blah

People need to read the application form, it says send in two photos, signed on the back. Clear/sharp in colour and 35mm x 45mm. They insist on the quality because they say it has to be scanned into the system. It says nothing about getting them taken by and company in particular. This is also stated like this on the RSA website and the council website?

People need to read the application form, it says send in two photos, signed on the back. Clear/sharp in colour and 35mm x 45mm. They insist on the quality because they say it has to be scanned into the system. It says nothing about getting them taken by and company in particular. This is also stated like this on the RSA website and the council website?

Ireland is NOT Australia. Who gives a flying monkeys what other countries do different… You like Australia, stay there. But don’t try to impose a draconian ID system on people in Ireland. Ireland is a smarter independent country with its own ID system and it works just fine.

I agree 100%. I can;t think of any other reason but the public sector has to justify their existence. They cannot be laid off due to the Croke Park Agreement.

The whole thing of having your photo taken in office has nothing to do with the public sector!!!come September its a private company that will be doing your licence not the council.when the tender went out they companys applying were given the option of what they wanted to do regards pictures,every company that applied choose in house photos!

If you think getting a driving licence is too tortuous then perhaps you shouldn’t be behind the wheel. Taking to the roads is a huge responsibility not to be undertaken lightly, not an automatic right.

More regulation translates into less road tax due to less drivers and starves the exchequer of money – works both ways. Penalizing new entrants to the system will also stifle entrepreneurship and hinder business activity.

Croke park agreement and the fact these people have to justify their existence. The very reason it’s now:

(1) more expensive to get a drivers test
(2) takes six months to get a drivers test
(3) deterring more people from getting a drivers license resulting in higher unemployment.

Because our old licences are terrible they fall to bits all the time and are very easy to forge and in lots of countries they won’t expect them as id, even tesco won’t, this new licences are long over due, I don’t mind paying more money to buy a licence that will last, my old one is five years old and is barely hanging together. As for the photographers, you made plenty of money charging ppl 8 euro for pictures for passports,driving license and ID cards in the passed, the world has moved on so tough. They are still charging hundreds of euro to do wedding pics, I don’t think they will go hungry anytime soon, they just losing an easy over paid job

Well said !

@mark the organisation taking the photos is a private sector company SGS. It has nothing to do with Croke Park

Mr. Hearne,

I’m not a photographer. I am an ordinary citizen who sympathizes with people who have to get their drivers license due to an extremely expensive and difficult bureaucratic procedure. The world has Not “moved on so tough”: it’s easier to get a drivers license in the USA and Australia than Ireland. It’s also less-complicated. If safety is the reason, enforcement is the only way to reduce casualties – not more layers of bureaucracy. History has shown that enforcement of traffic law in most countries radically changes drivers behavior.