Tesla is “working with authorities” in Ireland to secure regulatory approval for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system, the company said on Wednesday. The statement came as Tesla marked 15,000 vehicle deliveries in the country.
“At the start of this week, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) has received regulatory approval in the Czech Republic,” Tesla said in a statement carried by the Irish Examiner.
“This is now the seventh market in Europe to recognise the transformative potential of Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Ireland is anticipating the arrival of this transformative technology on Irish roads in due course.”
Tesla did not give a timeline, and did not say which Irish authorities it is working with.
Dublin Waits for Brussels
Ireland’s Department of Transport has tied any Irish approval to a decision at EU level.
“Tesla are currently engaging with the Irish authorities including the Irish approval body, the NSAI, regarding their FSD system,” the department told RTÉ in May.
“If the technology is to be approved at EU level, it would then be possible for it to be allowed in Ireland,” it said, adding that “at this stage it is not possible to provide timelines for any EU approval.”
An amendment to the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 in March allowed Level 2 driver-assistance software to be used lawfully in Ireland, RTÉ reported.
FSD (Supervised) is a Level 2 system, which leaves the driver fully responsible for the vehicle at all times.
Seven Countries, One Vote
The Dutch vehicle authority RDW granted FSD (Supervised) a provisional approval on April 10.
Other member states can recognise that approval nationally under Article 39 of EU Regulation 2018/858.
Lithuania and Estonia did so in May, Denmark and Belgium in June, and Slovenia on September 7.
Czechia followed on September 21, even though its transport ministry had said in June that it would wait for the European assessment rather than take a national route.
The seven countries recognised the Dutch provisional approval, not an EU-wide type approval.
The seven countries together account for less than 12% of the EU’s population.
The RDW has withheld data on FSD testing and performance, citing trade secrets, after Tesla asked it how the information could be kept from public disclosure, Reuters reported in August.
Norway’s Public Roads Administration told Reuters that the data the RDW reviewed “is not the same as what Tesla publishes on its website.”
The EU’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles is expected to vote on bloc-wide recognition of the Dutch approval as early as October 6.
EU-wide validity requires the backing of at least 15 of the 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the bloc’s population.
Germany Raises Speeding Concerns
Germany has raised FSD’s ability to exceed speed limits with Tesla ahead of the EU review.
Germany accounts for 18.6% of the EU’s population, which makes its vote central to reaching the population threshold.
“When using the system, the impression of autonomous driving can arise, although responsibility for driving the vehicle remains entirely with the driver,” Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport Christian Hirte wrote in a letter dated September 14.
Sweden told the committee in April that it should vote against the system unless Tesla removes the speed-offset function, which lets drivers set a margin above the posted limit.
Norway, which is outside the EU and does not vote in the committee, has raised similar concerns.
15,000 Irish Deliveries
Tesla entered the Irish market in late 2016 and made its first deliveries in early 2017.
It announced its 10,000th Irish delivery on February 21, 2025, about eight years after those first deliveries.
The next 5,000 took about 19 months.
Tesla has registered 2,729 vehicles in Ireland so far this year, up 21% from a year earlier, according to the company.
Its 15,000th customer took delivery of a Model 3 RWD at Tesla’s Sandyford showroom in south Dublin.
A new Tesla Centre offering sales, service and deliveries will open in North Dublin before the end of the year, Tesla said.
Fully electric registrations in Ireland rose 55% to 32,079 in the first eight months of 2026, data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry showed.
The Model Y was the second best-selling electric car in that period, behind the Volkswagen ID.4.
