Vol. 508 No. 3
80 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of applicants awaiting a driving test at the latest date for which figures are available; the average length of the waiting time for a test at each centre; the reason for the long delays; the steps, if any, being taken to reduce the waiting time for tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18701/99]
Some 99,000 applicants are at present awaiting driving tests. Of these, approximately 33,000 have been given test appointments and a further 13,000 have indicated that they are not currently available to be tested. The average waiting time for a driving test is at present some 28 weeks; the average longest waiting period per test centre is some 34 weeks. However, applicants who require a test for urgent reasons are being given earlier appointments: about 25 per cent of applicants are tested within 15 weeks. Average waiting times have not been compiled for each test centre due to limitations in the IT systems involved.
Applications for driving tests are now running at more than a third 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. In 1999 test applications have so far increased by a further 2.5 per cent over 1998.
Very significant additional resources have been allocated to the driver testing service, which now numbers 101 testers compared to 66 in 1998. Together with recent productivity agreements and Saturday working, this has increased the testing capacity of the service by over 90,000 tests to some 202,000 tests annually.
As I have indicated in replies to previous questions, I am determined to bring progressive and substantial improvement to the quality of driving test service provided to the public and in particular to end present excessive and unacceptable waiting times. On the basis of the measures now taken, a maximum waiting period of 10 weeks is being targeted by the end of next year.
