Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Feb 1999

Vol. 500 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Driving Tests.

Mrs. Owen

The Minister will probably be aware that approximately 90,000 people are waiting to take their driving tests; the average waiting time is about 40 weeks. This is not just the case in the cities of Dublin, Cork or Galway; it applies all around the country.

On 17 December I tabled a question to the Department of the Environment and Local Government and was informed that the maximum waiting time was 49 weeks in north Leinster, 45 weeks in south Leinster, 36 weeks in the west, 41 weeks in the north-west, 40 weeks in the south-east and 44 weeks in the south-west. At that time the number on the list was 86,000 but it has since risen to over 90,000.

On 5 March last the Minister indicated in the Dáil that he had the necessary arrangements in train to deal with the backlog and appoint more testers. At that time he was talking about appointing testers on 12 month contracts. With an increase in car ownership of 16 per cent in June 1998 over the previous year, it is clear that the number of testers, currently standing at between 70 and 75 depending on whether one takes supervisors into account, needs to be increased. Providing temporary testers just to get rid of this backlog will not work. Ironically, the last time we had a backlog like this was when former Deputy Pádraig Flynn was Minister in another Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Coalition. I am not sure whether it is that the backlog builds up when the two parties are together in Government.

The Minister ought not to reply that he inherited this backlog.

Mr. Molloy

The Deputy does not want the truth.

Mrs. Owen

Last March he knew that the backlog was building up. He stated in the Dáil that it was his intention that 95 per cent of driving tests would take place within 15 weeks of application by the end of 1998, and within ten weeks of application by the end of 1999. We are no nearer achieving that, according to the figures to which I referred, unless the Minister immediately hires more full-time testers so that productivity can be increased. Putting the testers to work on a Saturday when each may do two extra tests is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole with water. It will not tackle a backlog of 90,000.

The result of the Minister's inaction is that people can drive for four years on a provisional licence because all a person need do to get a second provisional licence is make an application for a test and get a date, even it if is 12 months ahead. He or she need not take the test and may drive for another two years without a test. It is not their fault because the system does not allow them to take the test quickly.

I ask the Minister to appoint additional testers to tackle the backlog and to ensure that these kinds of delays do not build up. Part-time or temporary testers are not the answer because the Minister or his successor will come to the House in a year's time apologising yet again to those who are waiting for their driving test. The Minister need not apologise. He should let the applicants do their tests and drive with full, valid driving licences.

Mr. Molloy

I hope Deputy Owen will listen to all of my reply and not merely to selected parts of it. I am grateful to the Deputy for raising this issue and for giving me the opportunity to explain again the reasons for the current delay in the issuing of driving test appointments and the measures we are taking to deal with what is clearly an unsatisfactory situation.

This problem started in 1996 when greatly increased numbers of driving test applications were being made to the Department of the Environment and Local Government. In that year applications rose 20 per cent over 1995. This trend has continued and in 1998 there was in increase of 23 per cent over 1997 resulting in an all time record number of applications. Between 1995 and 1998 the level of applications rose by 36 per cent. This cumulative increase in the demand for tests has been exceeding the capacity of the Department's service to provide them and waiting times have consequently lengthened.

I fully accept this is unsatisfactory. The Department is responding by increasing the number and productivity of its driver testers. Saturday testing has been in place for some time and this has allowed an increase of 12,500 tests per annum. After difficult and protracted negotiations a package of productivity measures was agreed under the PCW with IMPACT, the driver testers' union, last autumn and has now been implemented. An additional 9,000 tests per year will result from this agreement.

The service is also being augmented by the appointment of new driver testers both on a permanent and contract basis. A competition has been run by the Civil Service Commission to recruit additional testers. Eight new testers joined last November and have been operating a full testing schedule since the beginning of January. Six more testers are currently undergoing training and are to be joined by three more next Monday. This brings the total number of additional testers recruited to 17. These additional testers will mean an increase of 25 per cent in our testing capacity, or 46,800 additional tests per annum. In addition, the Department is currently negotiating with IMPACT on the recruitment of an additional ten contract testers.

I am confident that these measures will lead to an early reduction in the waiting period for tests. In this context I must emphasise that where an individual requires a test for urgent reasons they will be facilitated as far as possible. At present, 30 per cent of applicants are tested within 15 weeks. The national average waiting period for a driving test is now 27 weeks and I am determined to reduce that waiting period to ten weeks.

Mrs Owen

That is not correct. How are these figures calculated?

Mr. Shatter

The waiting time in Dublin is one year.

Mr. Molloy

I am conscious of the need to provide a testing service which can offer tests within a reasonable period and I can assure the Deputy that my Department and I will take the necessary measures to ensure that a quality service is provided. I trust that this explains the position to the Deputy's satisfaction.

The delay in appointing extra testers, as I have explained in the House on a number of occasions, was the result of an industrial relations problem which was not of the Government's making and was outside my control.

Mrs Owen

This service should be self-financing.

Mr. Shatter

There should be no industrial relations problem. Do testers have a monopoly, like taxi drivers?

Mr. Molloy

I am determined to reduce the average waiting time to ten weeks. The industrial relations difficulties which existed before I came to office have been resolved and I hope, with the appointment of additional testers, we will make rapid progress.

Mr. Shatter

We need a fastrack approach.

Mr. Molloy

The Deputy knows his party's record. They sat on their hands for too long.