Vol. 515 No. 3
32 Mr. Penrose 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; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5987/00]
34 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of persons who applied for driving tests in 1999; the number of these persons who were given a test; the number of these persons who passed; the backlog at the end of 1999 for those awaiting tests; the number of others on provisional licences at the end 1999 who had not applied for the test; his views on whether the situation is wise and safe; and the proposals, if any, he has to remedy the situation. [5907/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 32 and 34 together.
An estimated 380,000 provisional licences were current at end 1999. The Government Strategy for Road Safety 1998-2000 acknowledged the importance of driver training and testing to road safety, with the qualification that these could not be expected to yield road safety benefits on the scale of the measures directly targeted at speeding, alcohol and seat belt wearing which have been prioritised by the strategy. The strategy proposed, for the longer term, a significant reduction in the number of Irish drivers relying on a provisional licence.
To attain this longer-term goal, the short-term priority is to restore waiting periods for driving tests to acceptable levels. 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 more than 90,000 tests to more than 200,000 tests annually. Two new test centres have been provided in Tallaght and Raheny. I will keep under review the question of recruitment of further testers, as necessary, to meet a quality service target of ten weeks maximum waiting time by the end of this year.
Measures have been in place for some years and will be maintained, to restrict the long-term holding of provisional licences. In addition, the Motor Insurance Advisory Board is in the process of finalising recommendations for improving access to motor insurance for young people. The possibility of affording greater credit for the holding of a full driving licence may arise in this context.
