Vol. 505 No. 6
36 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of provisional driving licences on issue from his Department; the steps, if any, he is taking to reduce the number of provisional drivers on the roads; the average waiting time for tests; the longest period any applicant has to wait for a test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14367/99]
I refer to the replies to Questions Nos. 31 and 34 of 27 April 1999.
An estimated 371,000 provisional licences were current as at 31 December 1998.
The national average waiting period for a driving test is now some 31 weeks and the longest waiting period for any individual applicant is 62 weeks. Where applicants require a test for urgent reasons they are facilitated as far as possible. At present 30 per cent of applicants are tested within 15 weeks.
With the increased resources now being made available to the driver testing service, improvements in waiting times are beginning to be realised in most test centres. The task now is to continue and accelerate this process, and to extend its benefits to the Dublin area where waiting times remain particularly high. The recent opening of a new test centre in Tallaght will assist in this regard.
