 The microchip enables the licence to be read by special card readers which are be managed by the Road Safety Authority and are available to the [Gardai|Police]  However not all of the categories on the new licence are obtainable.An oversight in production of the licence means that category B1 appears on the driving licence in Ireland but cannot be obtained.The old licence was based on the old European format, defined in Directive 91/439/EEC, as was used in other countries in the past.