SPSV licence in Ireland: driver, vehicle and operator rules

Which SPSV licences an operator needs

Start with the work you intend to undertake, then check each layer separately. A driver's permission is not a licence for an unlicensed vehicle. A vehicle licence does not settle whether a business taking bookings for other people needs dispatch authorisation.

For a mixed business, describe the actual booking service to NTA before relying on an exemption. Keep that scope decision separate from your business name or the way a customer describes a car. An operator's informal use of the word chauffeur does not identify the licensed vehicle category.

SPSV fees and renewal

The table separates driver, vehicle and dispatch charges. These are the individual published charges shown below, not a total startup budget. They exclude costs such as acquiring a vehicle, insurance or training that are outside this fee table. Check the current category and application stage before paying.

NTA says ordinary driver renewal can be started up to three months before expiry and processing can take up to 12 weeks. That is renewal guidance, not a promised turnaround for a new application. Local area hackney driver licences last three years and cannot be renewed; the NTA describes a new-application route instead.

Set reminders from the dates on the actual licences. Do not assume that the driver's expiry, the vehicle's expiry and the booking service's renewal fall together. Give the person preparing a renewal access to the current documents and the previous submission, and record who will check that the renewed document has arrived.