I thank the committee for this opportunity to address it. The development of a traffic safety policy involves a wide range of participants representing a diverse group of interests. As identified in the submission forwarded to the committee, these are the media, the Government, legislative bodies, users, citizens, the industry, the police, NGO-special interest groups and the professionals.
I wish to focus on the professionals and, in that context, driving instructors. For the latter to be recognised as road safety professionals, the industry in Ireland must look at best practice in other countries throughout Europe. Minimum European requirements for driving instructor training, MERIT, is an EU research project on standards for driving instructors co-financed by the European Commission. The MERIT recommendations are based on a long-term vision paper and are designed to highlight best practice and provide the European Commission with a basis for a legislative proposal for an EU directive.
One of the objectives of the MERIT project was to identify and analyse current standards for driving instructors throughout Europe. This was achieved via electronic questionnaires sent to relevant government agencies or ministries and to the main national driving school associations in March 2004. Representatives of 27 European countries replied. The principal conclusions, as expected, exposed significant differences between countries in terms of the volume, content and requirements for training, testing and ongoing quality in the profession. The most striking divergences come under the following headings: conditions for access to the profession; initial training; testing; ongoing training; and quality control. The overall conclusion of the survey was that most countries focus almost exclusively on competency relating only to the lower levels of the goals for driver education, GDE, matrix. In this regard, the MERIT recommendations for standards relating to GDE matrix as a whole are considered useful and important for improving the quality of driver education and training.
The submission, on page 4, provides the GDE matrix goals for driver education. As stated, the first two are the only ones addressed in most parts of Europe. The MERIT recommendations include five areas which need to be addressed if minimum requirements are to be established in Ireland, namely, general competencies required by a driving instructor, the conditions of entry to the profession, initial qualifications, quality assurance and ongoing training and, the content requirements for training and testing.
At present, Ireland has in place qualifications and budgets which fulfil many of the MERIT recommendations. The first is the FÁS-NUI certificate in training and continuing education. This course goes a long way towards meeting the MERIT recommendations and has been developed to ensure trainers have the essential competency necessary to meet the training challenges with which they are faced in today's changing world. It provides formal qualifications for those involved in training and development and encourages those in training roles to update themselves in new developments in training methodology and delivery systems.
Under the FÁS competency development programme, up to 70% funding may be made available to a participant undergoing the NUI certificate in training and continuing education. The course material is delivered in four units and four workshop days over four months. It covers the essential basic skills and knowledge required by today's trainer, namely, assessing training and development needs, designing a training programme, delivering training and supporting the learner. On successful completion of the course, participants are approved FÁS trainers. That goes a long way towards meeting the EU MERIT recommendations.
Any company operating in the driver training industry in Ireland may submit a training course to FÁS for approval under the competency development programme. The course must meet the FÁS criteria and trainers delivering the course must be approved FÁS trainers, namely, they must hold an NUI certificate in training. Again, up to 70% funding may be made available to participants who attend a driving instructors training course approved by FÁS. Ireland already has in place the budgets and training courses required to meet the EU MERIT recommendations.
Driving instructors are the key persons in transmitting road safety strategies and attitudes to drivers. Not all aspects of safe driving can be assessed in the driving test. An efficient transmission of the key messages for safe driving is, therefore, essential. The better qualified driving instructors are, the more they can influence the later driving behaviour of their learner drivers. More importantly, the driving instructor training and testing curriculum must correspond to the demands of road safety. Ireland has in place the required systems and budgets to address the proposed EU MERIT recommendations. The driver training industry in Ireland, along with the driver testing service, needs to examine what is already available and must seek to place the industry on a solid foundation which will allow it to continually implement improvements that are in line with proposed EU directives.