Do the ATPL exams cover the IR ones then?
Yes.
To do a CPL, you need to either have done the CPL exams or the ATPL exams. To do an IR, you need to either have done the IR exams or the ATPL exams.
If you were to do the CPL exams, and later decide to add an IR to your CPL, you would have to do either the IR or the ATPL exams. If you do the IR exams, you will duplicate some of the exams you've already done for the CPL. What's more, if you took this route, you would not be able to upgrade your CPL/IR to an ATPL (and therefore could not fly as Captain on a multi-crew aircraft) without taking the ATPL exams - thereby possibly doing the same exam 3 times. Believe me, these are not exams which you will want to do any more times than absolutely necessary!
FFF
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