Skip to content
Support Us

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

RSA CEO Moyagh Murdock, Noel Clancy, and Minister Shane Ross Hayley Halpin/TheJournal.ie

From midnight, it's illegal for car owners to let unaccompanied learners drive their vehicle

“Unaccompanied learner driving is illegal and it is dangerous,” Minister Shane Ross said today.

MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT Shane Ross has today announced the commencement of the unaccompanied learner driver provisions of the Road Traffic Amendment Act 2018, known as the ‘Clancy Amendment’. 

These new provisions now make it an offence for the owner of a vehicle to knowingly allow an unaccompanied learner or an unlicensed person to drive his or her vehicle. 

They will kick in at midnight tonight. 

The provisions also extend the power of detention under section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1994 to allow the Garda Síochána to detain a vehicle being driven, in the Garda’s opinion, by an unaccompanied learner.

Noel Clancy’s wife, Geraldine Clancy (58) and his daughter, Louise (22), and were tragically killed in an accident involving an unaccompanied learner driver in December 2015.

The driver, Susan Gleeson, was subsequently given a three-year suspended sentence.

Since their deaths, Noel Clancy has been campaigning for a change in the law that would make the car owner and driver equally accountable in the law.

Speaking at the launch of the provisions today, Clancy said: “It is three years tomorrow since my wife Geraldine and my daughter Louise were killed by an unaccompanied learner driver. 

“It is two years and one month to the date since I stood on the steps of Cork Courthouse and called on Minister Ross to implement legislation that will make it an offence to allow a learner driver to drive a car unaccompanied.

I now look forward to this legislation being enforced by the gardaí. I also look forward to compliance of the law by car owners and learner drivers.
Car owners must now realise that if they give their car to an unaccompanied learner driver then they, unlike in the past, will now be accountable in law. 

Long journey

In November 2017, Ross first sought approval for the rule change, however, a number of concerns around a loop-hole were subsequently raised.

The Attorney General’s Office identified a loop-hole in the proposed legislation.

As matters stood, it would have become an offence for the owner of a vehicle to allow an unaccompanied learner driver to drive that vehicle, but not an offence to allow a person who has no driving licence or learner permit to drive the vehicle.

It was then proposed that the government address this by approving the creation of a new offence of a vehicle owner allowing a person who is not the holder of a driving licence or learner permit to drive the vehicle.

The issue was brought to the Oireachtas Transport Committee that month to be debated and has now been rectified.  

Also speaking at the event today was Minister Ross. 

“I hope this new law will have a serious impact on driving culture in this country. I hope that vehicle owners will act responsibly when allowing learners to drive their vehicles, be those learners sons and daughters, friends, or other family members,” he said. 

Unaccompanied learner driving is illegal and it is dangerous. Once and for all we need to stamp out the entirely false notion that once someone has a learner permit they are free to drive as they wish. 

“A learner permit is not a driving licence.”  

With reporting by Christina Finn

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
129 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris Murphy
    Favourite Chris Murphy
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 10:56 AM

    Having worked in an IoT for 14 years I never understood how they were allowed to treat hourly paid staff in such a horrible way. The hard working hourly paid staff are absolutely abused and taken advantage of and the tenured staff and unions do nothing.
    New hires (full-time) are expected to start on ~€38k even if they were earning over double this in the private sector. Attracting talented lecturers is clearly not a goal for management. In the next few years this will come back to bite them, hard!
    Unions should be ashamed of themselves. Hourly paid staff need to strike en masse.
    Management and HR need to be held accountable.

    81
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom D
    Favourite Tom D
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 11:16 AM

    @Chris Murphy: To quote a teacher union rep in the US “when schoolchidlren start paying uinion dues, i’ll start representing the interests of school children”

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John ward
    Favourite John ward
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 9:37 AM

    Irish colleges have been slipping down the rankings internationally. You can’t attract or keep top people if you don’t value them.

    80
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 10:11 AM

    ‘The Institution will never love you back’

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dan Dare
    Favourite Dan Dare
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 4:52 PM

    Administrators, facilities staff, yes pay them more but lecturers, professors, etc why would they be paid more? They are paid the market rate. It’s a competitive industry.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat Redmond
    Favourite Pat Redmond
    Report
    May 28th 2023, 8:29 AM

    @Dan Dare: it takes approximately eight years to get to PhD level with a lot of sacrifice and determination. If we want to retain this talent and not lose them to more attractive offers abroad we need to get real.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute valerieh
    Favourite valerieh
    Report
    May 28th 2023, 8:57 AM

    @Dan Dare: It is not about salary per se. It is about discriminatory practices that make obtaining a secure contract and later promotion to a sustainable income unimaginably damaging to someone’s physical and mental health.

    10
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dan Dare
    Favourite Dan Dare
    Report
    May 29th 2023, 7:47 PM

    @valerieh: As far as I know pretty much all new staff are taken on as contractors / temp staff in the 3rd level ed sector. This is something the majority asked for to temper the salary boom in the public sector about 15 years ago when the whole place went sideways. To my recall the sector took huge pay cuts that they haven’t pulled back yet. To be honest if lecturers want to be paid more they should deserve it because there are a lot of other people waiting in line for the money they sacrificed.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dan Dare
    Favourite Dan Dare
    Report
    May 29th 2023, 7:50 PM

    @Pat Redmond: Yes PhD has always been the definition of the poor student and we definitely aren’t friendly to this demographic here. I agree their accomodation etc should be paid for and so on so that they can pay it back when they qualify and do all that fancy research that drives the economy, however if they are good they will still be poached, prob for the betterment of humanity admittedly but it is a hard sell to ask stretched people to pay more for this. Hungry mouths to feed and all.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Winston Smith
    Favourite Winston Smith
    Report
    May 29th 2023, 10:04 PM

    Sinn Féin used to stand up for tradesmen, labourers, factory workers, small farmers and the all the lower paid working class. Now all they care about is lecturers, solicitors and the like.
    They really have sold out on every single thing.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute honey badger
    Favourite honey badger
    Report
    May 27th 2023, 7:48 AM

    *do

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a comment

 
cancel reply
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds