Irish Vehicle drivers with the following medical conditions may face licence removal under new Irish regulations.
Drivers across Ireland have been warned of at least five medical conditions that could cause their driving licences to be revoked under new rules.
It is a requirement that thousands of motorists across Ireland must submit what’s called a Medical Form to the National Driver Licence Services every year, if they have any long-term injury or an illness that may affect their ability to drive in complete safety.
Failure to submit this required form, could place drivers at risk of fines, driving bans, or legal action by the Irish authorities. The Road Safety Authority has a comprehensive list of medical conditions, as well as treatments being received, that may affect a drivers ability to hold a driver’s licence.
Hereunder, are five of the major conditions that could cause your licence to be revoked if you do not report them to the authorities:
Epilepsy and Sudden Blackouts.
Heart Conditions (Including Arrhythmia and Heart Attacks).
Severe Vision Impairment.
Diabetes with Severe Hypoglycaemia (Low blood sugar).
Neurological Disorders (Including Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease).
Conditions like Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis(MS), or Motor Neurone Disease(MND) can also significantly impair reaction time, coordination, and cognitive function, making it absolutely vital that drivers submit a medical form to the NDLS.
The conditions that require motorists to submit a medical report can be found hereunder:
Diabetes treated by insulin and or sulphonylurea tablets (your doctor can advise whether you are on these or not) no need to tell us if managed by other tablets and or diet.
Epilepsy.
Stroke or TIAs (minor strokes) with any associated symptoms lasting longer than one month.
Fits or blackouts.
Any type of brain surgery, brain abscess or severe head Injury involving in-patient treatment or a brain tumour or spinal injury or spinal tumour.
An implanted cardiac pacemaker.
An implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD)
Repeated attacks of sudden disabling dizziness.
Any other chronic neurological condition such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, or Huntington’s disease.
A serious problem with memory or periods of confusion.
Persistent alcohol misuse or dependency.
Persistent drug misuse or dependency.
Serious psychiatric illness or mental health problems.
Parkinson’s disease.
Sleep Apnoea syndrome.
Narcolepsy.
Any condition affecting your peripheral vision.
Total loss of sight in one eye
Any condition affecting both eyes, or the remaining eye if the driver only has one eye (Not including colour blindness or short or long sight).
A serious hearing deficiency.
Severe learning disability.
Any persistent problems with arms or legs which restricts driving to an automatic vehicle.
Any persistent problems with arms or legs which restricts driving to an adapted vehicle.
How to Check if you may be at risk.
Consult Your Doctor – If you have any of the conditions listed above or suspect a medical issue affecting your driving, seek medical advice immediately.
Check the RSA Guidelines – The RSA provides a full list of reportable conditions on their website.
Take an Eye Test – If you’re unsure about your vision, book an eye test to ensure you meet all legal requirements.
Plastic Bag Levy regulations in Ireland came into operation on July 1st 2007. Today, if a customer requests a plastic bag, the retailer must, generally, since that date, charge €0.22 per plastic bag supplied. Of course there are exceptions; these are for bags of certain sizes, and for bags which contain fresh fruit, unpackaged vegetables, meats and certain other products.
Hereunder, Leitrim native Seamus O’Rourke, writer, director, actor, poet and independent producer extoles the unvirtuous over use of such outer packaging, as only Seamus can.
The plastic bag levy’s primary purpose was to reduce the consumption of disposable plastic bags by influencing consumer behaviour.
Moneys gathered by this levy is, we understand, remitted into the ‘Circular Economy Fund’, which is supposedly used to support initiatives in reducing waste and to promote the reuse and recycling of goods. On a positive side, it has had a major effect on consumer behaviour since its introduction. Annual sales of lightweight plastic bags have dropped from a high of more than 130 million to just 8.3 million at the end of 2022, with all the associated benefits for Ireland’s environment.
Alternatives to disposable plastic shopping bags, such as reusable bags are now available in shops around the country, and the consumer has changed to using these alternatives. In the grocery sector, disposable plastic bags have largely been replaced by reusable shopping bags.
Plastic shopping bags designed for re-use are exempt from this levy provided the retailer charges at least 70 cent for each bag.
Test results for the four products show that the legal nicotine concentration was exceeded, with sample results ranging between 26.9mg/ml and 30 mg/ml. The legal nicotine concentration for electronic cigarettes is 20mg/ml.
As a precautionary measure, the HSE are advising consumers to check the electronic cigarettes they may hold, against the products involved in these alerts. If they have any of these products, they should stop using them and return them to the shop where they were purchased. If they have used these products and experienced any ill effects, they should contact their General Practitioner for advice and notify the HSE at info.tpd@hse.ie.
In response, the HSE has contacted distributors and importers of e-cigarettes and refill containers known to them and to make them aware of this issue and will be following up as required.
The message to retailers is: If you have any of the products as set out above, you must remove them from sale and contactthe HSE at info.tpd@hse.ie providing product and full traceability details. If you have sold or distributed any of the products above, a recall notice must be displayed in a prominent position in your retail premises and on your website and social media.
Retailers, with any queries in relation to this matter, may contact the HSE at info.tpd@hse.ie.
The 2025 Garda recruitment campaign will open for applications on February 6th, 2025, for a 3 week period.
New trainees eligible for increased training allowance of €354.00 per week.
The provision of more than €2.48 billion in Budget 2025, will support the recruitment of new Garda members, Garda staff and Garda Reserves. The Programme for Government also commits to providing funding to recruit at least 5,000 new Gardaí over the next five years.
Recruitment into An Garda Síochána has accelerated following the forced closure of the Templemore, Co. Tipperary, Garda College during the pandemic. The 2024 Garda recruitment campaign received a strong response, with almost 6,400 applications, one third of which were from the 35-49 age group. That was the first time that those aged over 35 could apply.
The new Programme for Government outlines a number of measures intended to strengthen An Garda Síochána; expand the organisation’s resources and modernise support to tackle crime. These include:
A reform of the Garda recruitment and training processes to increase capacity.
Examining the introduction of an accelerated graduate entry programme to An Garda Síochána.
Implementation of a new Garda Capital Plan to deliver modern, well-equipped Garda stations across the country.
Prospective candidates can visit publicjobs.ie in the coming days, hopefully, for more information on how to apply.
One man has been arrested after the seizure of approximately 10kg of herbal cannabis, with an estimated street value of some €200,000, in the town of Cashel, South Co. Tipperary.
This seizure was conducted following a joint operation undertaken by Revenue’s Customs Service, the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and the Tipperary Divisional Drugs Unit.
Following an intelligence-led operation Gardaí arrested a man, understood to be aged in his 30s, in connection with this incident.
He currently remains detained at a Garda Station in Co Tipperary, held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.
Garda investigations are continuing. This seizure is part of ongoing joint investigations involving organised crime groups and the importation, sale and supply of illegal drugs.
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