I could not find words to describe the way I felt on the last occasion I spoke. I hope the intervening period has given me sufficient inspiration to come up with the right words to describe this Bill. Here we have a monument to the Government's incompetence and ineptitude. The numbers on the waiting lists for driving tests in recent years have shown that not only has the Government been oblivious to what was happening but also in this legislation it is incapable of prescribing some means of resolving the problem. We are approaching a general election, and how quickly this will occur only those on the other side of the House can tell us.
Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed).
Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
Two years.
Like most of its proposals, the Government will not divulge the secret until the last minute. We have large numbers of people waiting for driving tests, some of them up to 14 and 15 months. This is not a new phenomenon. It has happened before on several occasions and a sticking plaster or fire brigade action has taken place on every occasion. On one occasion we had a write-off of all tests and everybody got a licence regardless of whether they could drive. We now have a temporary measure to introduce emergency powers, as it were, and semi-privatisation with bonuses to encourage driver testers. While I do not know how the bonus system will work, I presume it will encourage the testers to test more quickly or to test more people. However, it is proposed to reduce the number of people on the waiting list for the foreseeable future, in other words, the next two years. I presume it will ultimately achieve what was intended in the first place, which is to clear the backlog before the general election.
As far as I can see everything that is being done at present is to clear the decks for the next general election and much clearing remains to be done. To address the issue of driver testing we have the same Government that produced the Red Cow roundabout, the tunnel that only takes small trucks and the electronic voting machines that will not work and cost a fortune to be stored. These are indicators of what has happened in the past. I do not see how this proposal will resolve the problems we are faced with.
Given the numbers of people seeking driving tests at present, it was not today or yesterday it became obvious that we needed to address this area. It has been obvious for some years. It would have been simple to introduce additional testers at the time. As it happens, the number of additional testers will not make a ha'p'orth of difference in terms of significantly increasing output. The economy depends on the ability of people to get to work. Looking at the traffic jams on the roads I wonder how the unfortunate commuters restrain themselves and do not take the law into their own hands, although I do not suggest they should do so. In a growing economy like ours, one would have expected it would have been possible to apply for a driving test and be called within a few weeks. This can be done in most other countries and I do not know why we are so special here that we cannot do so. Many of the problems stem from the practices that have become established over the years. For instance the number of tests carried out per day could be increased. I do not see why people should have to stop testing at 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock, when there is still a fair part of the day left. Even if it means introducing shifts of testers, that should be possible. There is nothing extraordinary about it, and one need not be a rocket scientist. I cannot see why testers should not operate at night. After all, a fair proportion of driving takes place then. There are serious doubts regarding whether, in some circumstances, people who have been tested and passed have enough experience of road use. What experience have those who were passed arbitrarily, with no test, because of a past backlog? Since a great many accidents occur at night, it should be possible to devise a system whereby a certain proportion of driving tests could take place then. After all, 50% of people do a certain amount of driving takes at night. Those of us who work in this House probably find that we drive more at night than during the day.
What bugs me most is that this has arisen three or four times in the last ten years. There are long lists of people waiting for driving tests, and I cannot understand why no one has learned from that and decided that it might not be such a bad idea to increase the number of testers in line with the need that presents itself. The population is rising, and demographic trends should have been sufficient to establish the need for extra testers so things could progress in a normal way.
I am also concerned at the bonus system. If the criterion is set in relation to how a driver is tested, it should not require a bonus to encourage anyone to carry out the test. I wonder about the semi-privatisation and why, at the end of the removal of the backlog, we are to revert to the old system. Does that mean that in two or three years there will be another backlog and a requirement to introduce a similar Bill?
Let us return to an issue about which we should be concerned. We have a high rate of traffic accidents, and I fully understand that it is impossible to eliminate them all. Accidents will happen, and we should try to eliminate the circumstances in which they take place as much as possible. In many situations, they are a result of bad driving, inexperience, an inability to judge the road conditions and relate that to speed and so on. The list goes on, and for some unknown reason, between midnight and 6 a.m. we experience a high number of tragic accidents, many of them fatal. Research must be conducted to identify the causes, which clearly include bad driving and bad and unsafe roads.
How many times have we had the experience that one comes to a bend or curve in the road and finds, as one tries to navigate it, that the road surface is rough or that one has to move from one side to the other to avoid potholes? Perhaps one sees a sign stating that one is at an accident blackspot. As I have said before on similar matters, that means nothing more than that several accidents have taken place, many of them fatal. In such circumstances, one hardly needs to be a rocket scientist to work out that one can do two things. One can identify whether in every case the fault was that of the driver. I am not so sure that, if one has 20 or 30 accidents in one location, driver error is always to blame. There are other factors to examine and eliminate as far as possible. We must examine driver qualifications, and ultimately also those of the testers, and the extent to which the road or road surface contributes to accidents, given the need to reduce road traffic accidents and especially fatalities as much as possible.
I wonder whether, under this proposed system and regarding the need to encourage increased output, the test will not be as rigorous as previously. Will it be universally applicable, with the same standards and requirements applying across the country? If there are 1,000 people on one waiting list and 500 on another, will that automatically mean that, given the Bill's thrust, where the longer waiting list presents itself, the testers will be less rigorous? I would like that answered by the Minister. I have a funny feeling that tendency will be there, given the pressure to reduce the waiting list. People must be getting very accustomed to waiting. We now have waiting lists to enter schools, for housing, as my colleague will readily verify, for hospital treatment and for driver testing. We have virtually become the home of such lists, a rather undesirable accolade. There are waiting lists everywhere. We will have waiting lists to enter a tunnel that cannot accommodate its intended traffic, and on the M50, for the traffic that cannot get up or down it on a Friday afternoon or any other day. Deputies should see it for themselves. We are in the era of waiting.
Perhaps the Minister might clarify in his reply whether there will be universal application of the standard required of a driver. Will each area get the same treatment, or will there be attempts to speed matters up in certain areas to achieve the target before the next general election, an important date? My colleague, Deputy Carey, like everyone else in the Houses is very concerned about what might happen between now and the next general election.
There is nothing new in the board of the authority. We live in the age of such authorities, which are not accountable to this House and for which Ministers will not be accountable to it. Every day that passes I receive replies stating that the Minister has no responsibility to the House on various issues. I have no doubt that we will be hearing that in future. I do not accept that general rule, about which I have always protested. The Minister should be answerable to the House for every issue which arises under his or her Department and which is paid for under the Department's Vote. There is no other arena in which he might be made responsible or the public might get answers to questions. There is nowhere else for members of the Opposition to go to get an answer to a simple question other than tabling a question to the relevant Minister. Unfortunately, recently we have moved ever further from that. The theory is that it is good for government, but it is bad for it. It allows a siege mentality to develop that prevents the Government from asking itself questions, something that it should do. Regardless of which parties are in power, it is never in the interests of a Government to be economical with the degree to which a Minister is responsible to the House in respect of any or all of the legislation he or she has passed, even where such legislation provides for the devolution of powers to an external authority or body, which has increasingly been the practice in recent years.
We should all do what we can to improve the standard of driving on our roads. I welcome the fact that special emphasis has been placed during this debate on safe driving. Although all new drivers must now sit a preliminary theory test before receiving their first provisional licence, there is still insufficient emphasis on this aspect of driver proficiency. When I was involved in the insurance industry many years ago, I went to a good deal of trouble to identify how drivers could be better instructed off the road in simulated situations. There should be much greater emphasis on this type of instruction.
New drivers can glean many useful tips from more experienced motorists. I once saw a programme on British television which illustrated the danger signs for which motorists should be alert. These included parked cars on either side of the road or the appearance of a football in the vehicle's path, for example. Some of these danger signals have been used in Irish television advertisements. Less experienced drivers may not be as alert to these warnings as someone who has been driving for longer. Although the speed limit in most built-up residential areas is generally 30 km/h, experienced drivers find it is not usually possible to attain that speed because they must always be alert to the danger of a child or pet running into the path of their vehicle.
When instruction is given to learner motorists, greater emphasis should be placed on the ability to read the conditions of the road and to react quickly in particular circumstances. We must provide better certification of the ability of new drivers by ensuring we have a universally acceptable and sufficiently rigorous testing system that is based on the necessity that the newly certified driver has plenty of experience on and off the road. This is the situation for pilots who must train on the ground in a simulator for a long period before they are allowed into the air. This aspect of training should be utilised to a far greater extent in the area of road safety and driver testing.
I welcome the Bill, the purpose of which is to establish the driver testing and standards authority that will be responsible for the driver testing service. However, although this will be the primary function of the authority, its overall aims will not stop there. The role of driver testing in ensuring drivers reach an acceptable level of competence is important in the overall context of road safety. In carrying out these functions, therefore, the authority will have a general duty to promote the development and improvement of driving standards. In this way, the authority will have a significant role in encouraging better driving rather than simply testing driver competence and in encouraging greater road safety rather than simply reducing the test backlog. This is a fundamental development and one which requires serious consideration.
We all agree road safety is a subject that must be tackled on a number of different fronts and with the co-operation of a number of different agencies. We as policy-makers face many different challenges. These include the need to encourage better behaviour by motorists and other road users. We must ensure road users accept traffic rules and are aware those rules will be enforced. We must instill in them an appreciation of a shared duty to ensure the safety of others.
The main challenge for the Government is to achieve the right balance between good legislation, enforcement, education and public awareness measures. It has attempted to strike that balance and, in doing so, has initiated significant road safety policies, many of which have been outlined by previous speakers. They include the initial roll-out of the penalty points scheme, the dedicated Garda traffic corps and the emphasis on driver education, behaviour and awareness, among many others.
The marked reduction in road deaths in 2003 indicated some success in this area. However, the unwelcome increase in road fatalities during 2004 only served to highlight that more must be done if we are to tackle the problem effectively. It gives me no satisfaction to say the problem is getting worse. Like Deputy Durkan, I too commend the Garda Síochána on the enforcement measures it has put in train. The Government continues to work in this area. The road safety strategy for 2004-06 specifically targets continued reduction in road accidents and road deaths. Measures will focus on the areas of education, enforcement and engineering that will target the key areas of speeding, driving while intoxicated, seat belt wearing and vulnerable road users. We could spend all afternoon teasing out the implications of the enforcement of all these aspects of the strategy.
Driver competence and formation is another important aspect of the Government's road safety strategy. This emphasis derives from research which shows that poor driving skills and even poorer driver behaviour have a significant impact on the number of road casualties. Driving is an acquired skill and a particularly demanding one on Ireland's busy roads. There is clear evidence to suggest the manner in which many new drivers are taught is unsatisfactory and that too many drivers take the test ill-prepared.
For many, the training has tended to be about the minimum required to pass the driving test rather than reaching an acceptable level of practice, competence and confidence. If we can convince motorists there is a direct relationship between driver competence and road safety and between driver competence and lower insurance — there is evidence of the latter connection in today's newspapers — we will have achieved something significant. If we convince drivers that better training from the beginning will benefit them directly and indirectly, we will see improved driving standards.
That the authority will be responsible for the registration of driving instructors will add to the improvement of driving practices. Driving instructors are not currently regulated and it will be a matter for the authority to determine how best to fulfil its obligations in this area. The end result will be a register of skilled driving instructors who have passed appropriate tests of their competence to instruct and are endorsed by the authority for that purpose. This is an issue that has been ventilated for a long period. Deputy Finian McGrath may recall it was raised at a teacher conference some years ago in the context of a discussion of the role of teachers in driver education. I welcome the fact that the Minister has devised provisions for the establishment of a register of qualified instructors. Every other area of people instruction requires that practitioners have suitable qualifications and are appropriately registered.
For these reasons, I am confident the decision to establish the driver testing and standards authority represents another building block in our fight to reduce road fatalities. I also welcome the progressive elements of the legislation. For example, the Bill gives the board and staff of the authority the scope to be innovative in carrying out their functions. It allows for the authority to move beyond the basic task of testing and allows it to be more inventive in its approach to the development of better driving standards. While the board of the authority will ultimately decide the best approach to take, I suggest steps be taken towards closer liaison with the education sector, possibly to establish classes on driving theory in post-primary schools. This already happens in some schools. One of our famous rally drivers runs such a programme for transition year students. The uptake is very high and the success rate is quite impressive.
To establish a programme which would ensure young drivers reach a higher standard of basic knowledge prior to receiving even their provisional driving licence would be a significant development and one worth considering. A particularly important objective of this legislation is to bring an end to excessive and unacceptable waiting times. We cannot ignore the fact there is a significant waiting list for driving tests throughout the country. Although improvements have certainly been made, the demand for driving tests continues at a high level. I welcome the initiative announced earlier this week where there will be a drive to ensure measures are taken to shorten the waiting lists by being innovative in the way driver testing can be done. As I am sure other speakers have said, it is very important we maintain standards. Even if we privatise a service, we should not allow the current high standards to slip. We might complain about the long waiting list and the hassle involved in taking a driving test but standards are high and what happens afterwards is another issue which certainly merits examination.
The establishment of the driver testing and standards authority means the necessary flexibility will be in place to respond to variations in demand and to manage numbers throughout the country. Although I do not believe provisional licence holders are, in general, unsafe on our roads, we need to reduce their number. The proportion of drivers currently relying on a provisional licence is 17% of all current licence holders and not the 380,000 which many of us believed, although the percentage is too high. We are determined to reduce this proportion significantly and the establishment of the authority should ensure we can offer driving tests more quickly than at present and thereby reduce the number of provisional driving licences.
As the waiting times for a driving test become more manageable, the Minister has plans to bring forward appropriate amendments to the driver licensing regulations to discourage long-term reliance on provisional licences, which I welcome. After all, a provisional licence is not a driving licence and it should only allow a person to drive for the purpose of learning to drive. I have often thought we could usefully look at the measures in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom whereby one has an "R" on one's front windscreen and rear window for a year after one sits the driving test to indicate that one is still somewhat of a learner. One is always learning but sometimes when the test has been completed successfully and the "L" sign comes down, the speed is ramped up and standards are forgotten about a bit too readily.
A good teacher is always learning.
I know but some teachers do not.
Any improvements to the overall delivery and standard of the driving test introduced by this authority will also have significant benefits. There have been a number of improvements to the driving test in recent years, most notably the introduction of the driver theory test as well as a detailed report sheet which shows the test candidate where his or her driving skills are weak. The facility to apply on-line for the test was also introduced and has been well received. However, if we are to keep up with improving international standards, the Irish system will benefit from focused changes which I am confident this authority will implement as they arise.
I understand some changes are to be brought about in the area of testing motorcycle drivers, which I welcome. Every morning and almost every evening, I notice motorcyclists overtaking cars travelling at a slow speed on the route I take to work. Invariably, they are on the wrong side of the white line or they travel on the hard shoulder on one's blind side. A concerted effort must be made to improve the behaviour of motorcyclists. They are good at wearing helmets, at other things and at driving high-powered bikes but weaving in and out of traffic and crossing over continuous white lines is dangerous. I urge the traffic corps of the Garda to pay as much attention to that aspect of driving as is possible.
There is an aspect of the proposals about which I have a concern. All politics are local. Although I would like to be contradicted and told I am wrong, I understand there are proposals to concentrate the testing of truck drivers in one particular test centre, the Finglas test centre on Jamestown Road. Notwithstanding that this centre is located in my constituency in which we do not want to see increased levels of heavy vehicles, I have a number of reservations about the idea. It would represent a backward step in driver testing. Rather than testing the level of competence a driver has with a heavy vehicle, we would be testing his or her ability to memorise a particular route and to be aware of particular junctions and familiar only with the traffic constrictions in one area. To pass this test would only involve committing this route to memory and would not necessarily illustrate competence in driving large or more dangerous vehicles. I am sure I am not alone in this House in having those reservations. I do not know whether it is because of a feeling this might happen in our area but there has been a huge increase in the number of driving schools running courses for truck drivers in the Finglas area clogging up roads and parking on and damaging footpaths. It is a matter which must be reviewed.
It is worth noting that in the driver licensing area, the day to day operation of the licensing system, including the provision of blank licences and forms to licensing authorities, would transfer to the authority. Of course, policy making in these areas and the making of driver licensing regulations will remain with the Department of Transport, which I welcome. After all, the licensing system not only controls drivers, but is also the system which records penalty points and disqualifications incurred by drivers for road traffic offences. I also approve of the continuing interaction between the specialised transport staff in the Department and the local licensing authorities. It is worth noting that in the area of penalty points, the record will be endorsed electronically through a card system between the Courts Service, the Garda Síochána and the vehicle registration unit. Currently, queries about the application of penalty points are dealt with by the Department of Transport but this function will now pass to the new authority.
Given proposals before the European Parliament for consideration which aim to enhance security features on licences and which will require greater involvement at central level, the new authority will be the ideal body to facilitate such an arrangement because of the close connection between driver testing and driver licensing. If there is to be co-operation in this area, I wonder whether this facility might also play a greater role in combatting or at least in seeking justice for offences carried out on our roads by drivers licensed in other countries. My main experience of this is the speeding which occurs on the N2, often by vehicles registered in Northern Ireland. I am aware a similar authority has been established in the UK and it would beneficial if we could co-operate with it to bring these offenders to justice.
I have a serious concern about truck drivers, especially from Northern Ireland and the UK but also mainland Europe who do not understand the implications of driving on the other side of the road. The same might apply to Irish truck drivers driving in mainland Europe. It would be useful if there was an awareness campaign by the road haulage associations or the relevant European bodies governing the licensing of the road haulage industry to highlight the need for better driver behaviour. Last Saturday evening I saw, I think, a Netherlands registered articulated truck negotiate one of the roundabouts on the M50. It all but sandwiched a small Fiat Punto against the safety barrier. Admittedly, that happens infrequently but once is too often. In some way or other, we should try to ensure all these issues are addressed.
The establishment of a separate public body to deliver and improve on the driver testing service is an important development. Significantly, it will enable us to provide a superior and safe driver testing service. I prepared these remarks some time ago and am unsure whether the initiative announced earlier this week has superseded them. I am not anti-privatisation per se but have reservations about farming out important areas of public policy to the private sector, sometimes without adequate policing controlling powers. I hope that if measures such as these are introduced, we ensure they are carefully monitored. Many Members hear complaints reasonably regularly about inconsistencies in the application of the NCT test for car roadworthiness. Sometimes, how one fares depends on the centre to which one goes or on the particular tester at a centre.
The authority to which I referred will have the necessary flexibility to take an innovative approach to the area of driver testing and I look forward to seeing what inventive and exciting ideas it can come up with. I recognise that the benefits will not be as immediate as those resulting from the targeting of the offences of speeding, seat belt wearing and drink driving. I am also mindful that these and any other measures are only as good as the manner in which they are applied. In other words, there is no point in having a law unless it can be applied or implemented by the Garda when required. On that point, the Government must continue to deliver on the enforcement element of its strategy. Garda visibility is of the utmost importance and I look forward to the full implementation of that policy.
I welcome the introduction of the Garda traffic corps. The Garda's visibility is certainly improving and the fact that it now has high visibility colouring on its motorcycles and four by fours is important. I have noticed a commendable increase in the number of spot checks on speeding. For example, on the N2 over the recent bank holiday, I saw more than one driver fall into the trap of driving carefully past a hand-held camera only to encounter, having accelerated, a fixed camera 500 m further on. It was nice to see the camera flashing every time someone drove by above the speed limit. Perhaps this might give the lie to those who feel not only that the camera lies from time to time but that it does not take pictures.
A number of issues bother me personally. Some time ago, I raised one by way of a parliamentary question, namely, the advertising and sale of scanners. I know of one retail location where they are readily available, with a sandwich board on the footpath. One can acquire a scanner which purportedly ensures that one can drive over the limit without being detected by the Garda radar. What measures, if any, can the Minister take? Will he invoke legislation to ensure that the sale of such devices is illegal?
If we foster the development and improvement of driving standards throughout the country, this will strengthen the overall strategy for road safety. The proposed driver and standards authority is a very important element in the process of improving road safety in general. I, therefore, commend the Minister on this Bill and welcome it in the House.
I am happy to speak on this Bill, which I welcome. I welcome its thrust, which is to cut the ridiculously long waiting times that people must endure to get a basic driving test. This must be welcomed. It will mean the end of the provisional licence anomaly which prevents applicants from getting a reasonable and convenient test date. Ultimately the Bill will prevent untrained and untested drivers from driving on our roads. One must question how this came about in the first place. The people responsible for it bear a great responsibility for our very high road accident figures. This problem has gone on for some time and must be rectified.
Currently, the average waiting time for a test is ten months, which is far too long by any stretch of the imagination. I do not see why people must wait so long and I understand that this Bill seeks to rectify the situation. I commend the Minister on the introduction of the Bill and for providing a bonus scheme that will award testers for extra productivity. This is to be welcomed although one must question why it is necessary. Nevertheless, if this is what is required to get people off the road or to get them tested, I welcome it. The provision to hire extra staff to carry out 40,000 tests on a once-off basis is more important. This is akin to the situation with the national treatment purchase fund which is a quick-fix solution to solve a particular problem. The national treatment purchase fund worked, but is still only a short-term, albeit a welcome, solution. I hope this initiative by the Minister will be equally successful in sorting solving the problem in the short term.
One must question whether this will happen again and if the extra productivity award system is necessary to ensure it does not. I ask the Minister to address the long-term capability of the Department to ensure that the existing backlogs are dealt with and do not recur. This measure will ease the embarrassing backlog of 124,250 tests which would have existed by the end of 2006.
Another point concerns the need for young people on the road to drive safely. Young people are inclined to drive much faster and to be involved in more road accidents and many young lives have been wasted in this way. However, many people have questioned the high cost of car insurance in the past. In particular the penalisation structure affects young people with a provisional licence. I am sure their accident rate is much higher but they have been cornered into paying sky-high prices for car insurance. Young people are forced to fork out between €2,000 and €3,000 simply to get a car on the road. We must keep an eye on this. I know that the Tánaiste has launched some initiatives in this regard and this will help.
The numbers of people taking the driving test surged from 180,000 in 2001 to 234,000 in 2003 as a result of the ban on people driving on provisional licences. The measure had to be welcomed but one must question whether it might have been possible to implement the change in a more phased manner. It might have prevented this backlog.
Fundamentally however, we must question whether the public transport system is capable of handling the needs of the thousands of provisional licence holders who will now be obliged to use the bus or train, should they be forced to leave their cars at home. People, particularly young people, have great difficulty in getting to work, especially in rural areas. For instance, I have come across cases where young people have been completely unable to keep a job because of an inability to get car insurance. It is important that we allow our young people to make use of transport but there must also be a balance to ensure that road safety standards are maintained.
Debate adjourned.