Regulations for Approved Driving Instructors
The regulations that apply to driving instructors and why they are necessary.
It’s an offence for any driving instructor to teach someone to drive unless they are on the Road Safety Authority’s register of Approved Driving Instructors.
The RSA operates a structured regulatory system to standardise and maintain a high quality of driver instruction in Ireland. There are a number of laws and penalties which apply to ADIs.
The laws which apply to driving instructors
S.I. No. 146/2009 - Road Traffic (Driving Instructor Licensing) Regulations 2009.
S.I. No. 203/2009 - Road Traffic (Driving Instructor Licensing) (No. 2) Regulations 2009.
172/2011 - Road Traffic (Courses of Instruction) (Cars) Regulations 2011.
S.I. No. 173/2011 - Road Traffic (Courses of Instruction) (Learner Permit Holders) Regulations 2011.
S.I. No. 681/2011 - Road Traffic (Courses of Instruction) (Motorcycles) Regulations 2011.
S.I. No. 406/2018 - Road Traffic (Courses of Instruction) (Cars) (Amendment) Regulations 2018.
Penalties for breach of the law
If you are a driving instructor who is not registered with the RSA as an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) you could face a fine of up to €2,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both, if convicted of providing lessons for reward. You may not advertise yourself as an ADI until you receive
your full ADI permit.
Standardised quality tuition
These laws and regulations help to standardise the quality and skills of driving instructors in Ireland. It is a crucial part of our efforts to make the roads safer.
The regulatory system for driving instructors has four elements which help ensure instructors meet a minimum standard:
- A three-part ADI qualification process that tests your driver theory knowledge, practical driving skill and your ‘ability-to-instruct’ candidates
- Tax clearance - a tax clearance certificate must be provided as proof of tax compliance
- Garda vetting - to safeguard younger learner-drivers
- Regular check testing by RSA ADI examiners - Check Test Booklet.
The regulation process applies to individual driving instructors and not to driving schools.