Question:
31 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the average waiting time for a driving test; the number of persons awaiting a test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9938/99]
Other Questions - Driving Tests.
The average waiting time for a driving test is at present 31 weeks; the average longest waiting period per test centre is 40 weeks. However, applicants who require a test for urgent reasons are being given earlier appointments: approximately 28 per cent of applicants are tested within 15 weeks.
Some 97,000 applicants are at present awaiting driving tests. Of these, approximately 26,000 have been given test appointments and a further 10,000 have indicated that they are not currently available to be tested. Applications for driving tests are now running at 36 per cent above earlier levels, driven by exceptional conditions of economic growth. In 1998 an all-time record of nearly 150,000 test applications were made to my Department.
Significant additional resources are now being allocated to the driver testing service, which will shortly comprise 103 testers compared to 66 in 1998. Together with recent productivity agreements and Saturday working, this will increase the testing capacity of the service by over 90,000 tests to 202,000 driving tests annually. Through these actions, I am determined to bring progressive and substantial improvements to the quality of service provided to the public and to end present excessive and unacceptable waiting times.
Mr. Hayes
Does the Minister accept that when I put this question to him last year the length of time was 25 weeks whereas he is now telling the House that the average time is 40 weeks? Will he confirm that currently there is on average a ten months waiting time for people to get a driving test?
The average time for a test is 31 weeks. I have already given that information to the House.
Mr. Hayes
The average longest time. The Minister misunderstood.
The average waiting time for a driving test is 31 weeks.
Mr. Hayes
That is compared to 25 weeks last year. Will the Minister correct the record of the House in that he told me on 5 March 1998 that it was his Department's objective to reduce the waiting time to 19 weeks by the end of 1998? Will he also take the opportunity to apologise to those people who are currently waiting over seven months for a driving test?
My objective is to get the waiting time down to ten weeks.
He is going in reverse.
On a number of occasions I explained to the House the difficulties involved. I referred to the long ongoing negotiations with the trade unions in regard to productivity and arrangements for the introduction of additional contract testers. I could not determine in advance how long those discussions would take.
I apologised to people who were waiting for tests – I said that it was most unsatisfactory – and who were inconvenienced by it. I assured people, who were dependent on a driving licence and, therefore, needed a test for employment purposes or other urgent purposes, that we would do everything possible to arrange for that. Deputies will be aware that an extensive number of people are availing of that offer.
The Deputy knows the position from previous answers to parliamentary questions. It arises out of the difficulties in resolving the issue with the testers' trade union. Happily, those issues are resolved. I indicated the number of additional testers who are being appointed. All of this does not happen instantly because new testers must be trained, but they are all about to be put in place. In addition, there has been some illness within the existing tester cadre which also affected output. If the Deputy wants me to go through all the various measures which we have taken, I can do so.
Mr. Hayes
The Minister has confirmed that under his stewardship the situation has worsened over the past 12 months. Does he accept that the current delays in getting a driving test have a seriously detrimental effect on road safety in that a larger group of unqualified drivers are driving without having completed a test? Will he confirm that Ireland is the only country in the EU where this practice is allowed to continue?
It is highly irresponsible of the Deputy to suggest that because a person holds a provisional licence he or she is a danger to people travelling on the road.
Why are they restricted?
There are no statistics to support that theory. That is the reality. I have said that before.
What is the point of a test?
He is still talking through his hat.
Allow the Minister to continue.
This problem did not arise since the Government came to office.
Mr. Hayes
He should give us a new line.
The current waiting time problem started in 1996, when greatly increased numbers of driving test applications were made to the Department of the Environment and Local Government. In 1996, applications rose by 20 per cent on the previous year to 120,000. It was not until 1998, partly in response to tighter regulations about the renewal of provisional driving licences, that the trend towards a greatly increased number of driving tests became established. In 1998, there was an increase of 23 per cent on the number in 1997, resulting in an all time record of 146,000 test applicants. Between 1995 and 1998 the level of applicants rose by 36 per cent.
We are dealing with another result of the change in the economy where people are coming back from abroad and there has been a huge increase in the number of people at work. Consequently people have a better standard of living and there has been a big increase in the number of cars.
The Minister is supposed to provide a service for these people. He is going backwards.
I explained the difficulties that arose. Under the PCW people had rights and negotiations had to be undertaken. It is regrettable that it took so long. However, the new testers have been recruited and they are in place or in training in most instances. I hope we will see an improvement in the situation because I will not be happy until the waiting time for a driving test is reduced to about ten weeks.
He is condemned to be unhappy for a long time.
The Minister referred to the buoyancy in the economy. Given the bucketfuls of additional revenue which the Government has obtained through additional car sales and car tax, will the Minister explain why it still takes ten months for somebody to get a driving test? How many people are driving on the roads who have not passed a driving test? Since the Minister referred to productivity, how many driving tests does he expect a driver tester to carry out on a normal working day?
I do not have an exact figure for the number of provisional driving licence holders. I do not think the Deputy asked for that in the question.
I tabled another question on it.
I think it is about 350,000. The average number of tests undertaken by a tester is about 1,800 per year.
Mr. Hayes
How stands the Minister's commitment to reduce the waiting time to 15 weeks, which is set out in his Department's customer service action plan, as against the appalling performance of his Department in this matter? Will he outline the current driving test failure rate?
I can outline the improvements in the service which I have sought to implement in order to try to meet the unprecedented increase in the number of applications.
Mr. Hayes
The waiting time is increasing.
Teaching people to drive backwards.
Saturday testing was introduced and it is turning out about 12,600 tests per annum. The productivity agreement under the PCW, to which I referred, was concluded and gave an 8 per cent increase which resulted in about an additional 9,000 tests per annum. A further productivity agreement was entered into on 16 April 1999. That will deliver an additional 3,500 tests per annum.
With regard to permanent testers, a competition has qualified 33, eight of whom have taken up duty. We are in the process of recruiting four additional permanent testers. These will fill four vacancies, increasing the corps of permanent testers from 70 to 78. However, as I said, two are on long-term sick leave. There will be 21,600 additional tests as a result of those arrangements.
Contract testers are being taken on. Nine have commenced testing and 11 more commenced training on 19 April. We are in the process of recruiting five more contract testers. The total number of contract testers will be 25. That will result in about 45,000 tests per annum.
Therefore, the total additional tests arising from the measures I have taken is 91,700. The previous capacity in November 1998, based on 64 effective testers at 1,760 tests per annum and the PCW improvement, would give about 110,700. When one takes that into consideration, the present total potential capacity is 202,500 tests per annum to cater for the high level of applicants with whom we are dealing.
Mr. Hayes
What is the failure rate?
It is 56 per cent.
The Minister may take Question No. 30 with Question No. 32.