Not ready for a bike yet? Well maybe a lil' Vespa's the thing for you. We've certainly been getting lots of questions about scooters and what the story is with licences and insurance - you only have to glance down any busy street in Dublin and you'll realise how popular they are. Here's what we know about licences and insurance for scooters - if there's anything missing or incorrenct please let us know by contributing your own insight.

Licences
If you already hold a full driving licence for Category B (cars) and/or either Category A or A1, you are automatically licensed to drive Category M vehicles (two-wheeled, <50cc vehicles). Although the age limit for riding a category M vehicle is only 16, there's no other way of getting an M licence other than as part of your full A/A1/B licence - so if you are 16, what you need to get is an A1 licence: Motorcycles with an engine size of 51-125cc and/or a speed capability of over 45km/h and with a power rating not exceeding 11 kW, and with or without sidecar. You need to be 17 to apply for a provisional B licence and 18 to apply for a provisional A licence.

Insurance
AON, a broker for Hibernian, seem to be the people to talk to here - except you can't actually talk to them. Apparently they won't deal with the public directly - you have to purchase your scooter through one of their qualified dealers. The Bikecare page on their website doesn't tell you much more than this.
As regards cost - it's nowhere near as expensive to get cover for a scooter as it is for a motorbike. It presumably depends on all sorts of factors - age etc. - but you're generally not going to be paying much more than a few hundred quid a year.