Frank Crowley
Question:10 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for the Environment the average delay between applying for a driving test and taking the test; and if he has any plans to reduce this waiting period.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Driving Test Waiting List.
Peter Barry
Question:25 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for the Environment the number of people waiting for driving tests in Cork city and county; and the average length of time applicants are on the waiting list.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 25 together.
The average waiting time for a driving test in the country as a whole is now 25 weeks. There are 7,808 applicants awaiting tests in the Cork area. In Cork city and Mallow, the waiting period has been 38 weeks and in Skibbereen, 50 weeks, where added delay arose due to the closure of the old test premises. New premises were opened on 8 January.
In order to reduce the waiting time to an acceptable level, I arranged in the latter half of last year to have 39 additional driver testers recruited. The number of testers has now been increased to 79 from a figure as low as 40 last year. Thirty-two of the new testers have been trained and are operational and the remaining seven are currently being trained and will be operational shortly.
The situation with regard to testing in Cork, as in the country as a whole, is beginning to improve significantly due to the increased number of testers now operational. Every applicant who was on the waiting list in Cork before Christmas will have been offered a driving test appointment before the end of March.
I expect that, by September next, the waiting time will have been reduced to six to eight weeks in all areas.
Can the Minister outline the cost of employing the extra 39 driver testers and the revenue gained by having tests carried out more quickly?
I am sorry, but I do not have that information to hand. I would imagine, speaking purely from recollection, that it would be neutral in so far as the income covers the cost of testing. I would hope that it does but I cannot be sure of that.
It is self-financing.
I know that to be the case. Indeed, the Minister may even make a profit by hiring 39 extra people. Given that the Minister has been in the Department of the Environment for the past three years and we have 241,000 people on the unemployment register, why did he not see the sense in hiring extra driver testers before now?
I did but it takes time to recruit them in an open competition. That was undertaken but then they have to be trained and put in place. The Deputy will remember——
You are now four years a Minister.
He will be five.
The Deputy will remember that I indicated last year that it was my intention that people applying for a test would have that test within six to seven weeks. That can and will be achieved, by way of ministerial action which was taken last year, by September 1991.
Can the Minister give the House any indication as to the number of people who have to do a second or subsequent driving test?
I do not have that figure available.
In relation to the driving test, would the Minister consider appointing a personal assistant to deal with applications on a particular telephone line? I am thinking here of the Department of Social Welfare who operate a TD inquiry system. Such a system would be of enormous help in processing driving test applications.
I do not think that is necessary. As I said, many new testers are now operational and the waiting time will be reduced to between six to eight weeks by September of this year. I think that will be adequate to deal with any of the requirements the Deputies may have in mind.
Areas other than Cork experienced problems with premises and I would ask the Minister, now that he has additional facilities, to make extra testers available. I would also point out that the Department have been very helpful to people with difficulties and have slotted them in even though there is a waiting list.
I thank the Deputy, whose attitude reflects that of all Deputies, that the Minister's office is always very helpful in these matters.