Drivers in the State spent up to €4 million to replace their driving licences in the last six years after their documents were lost or stolen.
The National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) received nearly 114,000 applications for replacement licences between 2019 and 2024 after drivers reported them lost or stolen.
Figures released by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show 5,505 driving licences were reported lost or stolen in the State last year, down from 15,389 in 2023 and 25,895 in 2022.
Over the six years from 2019-2024, those aged 17-20 misplaced 30,747 licences, more than a quarter of the total of 113,956.
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A replacement licence can be requested online or in person at an NDLS centre with a stamped Garda declaration form, proof of address and PPS number, ID, a medical report if there has been a change in your details and a fee of €35.
Separately, figures compiled by An Garda Síochána show there were just 120 licences “recovered” by the force last year, with another 1,655 recorded as found. Earlier this year, on social media, gardaí highlighted a case where an American visitor’s licence was handed into Killarney Garda station and returned to her after she had lost it on a night out. It was sent to her with a letter encouraging her “not to drink so much Guinness” on her next visit.
Beyond the hassle of securing a new licence, cybersecurity expert Brian Honan said criminals can use the information on the licences as pieces of a “jigsaw” in identity theft, and “also to target you for online scams more effectively”.
Mr Honan, chairman of Cyber Ireland’s advisory board, said: “If you think about it, when you ring your bank, what questions do they ask you to prove who you are? It’s your address, your place of birth, your date of birth which is on your driving licence. You can use that information to try to reset somebody’s password or hijack their email accounts and from there you can hijack their complete online identity.
“The more data [criminals] have about an individual, the more money they can sell it for. The last time I looked, I think the prices range for people’s identity from $3 per person up to $15 per person, depending on how detailed the information might be.”
An RSA spokesman said reporting requirements for lost/stolen licences had not changed over the period and they believed the drop in the numbers may be partly explained by paper licences being replaced by cards, which may not be lost as easily.
Following a pilot scheme in 2024, digital driving licences are to be rolled out later this year as part of a “digital wallet” that people can keep on their smartphone.
It will be launched in tandem with a “life events portal”, which is a one-stop shop for engaging with public services for events such as births, deaths, marriages and divorces.
Mr Honan said that while digital licences would bring a lot of convenience, it would need to be a “robust scheme” as the change would create new risks.
“The physical card has a limited use case, if it’s in my possession I can’t do x, y, z. A digital licence would bring different threats,” he said.
“For example, if I install malicious software on your phone through a scam email or whatever, could I steal a copy of your driver‘s licence? You still have it on your phone, you’re not aware it’s gone as it’s not a physical thing any more, but I now have a copy of your licence. And now I can imitate you and try to get car insurance out in your name or rent a car or use it as ID to prove who you are when you’re applying for bank loans etc.”
In Northern Ireland (where two-part licences are still used), 21,755 were reported lost or stolen in the nine months to September last year, while in Britain more than one million were misplaced.
