Peter Burke
Ceist:513. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to change the system for driver tests (details supplied). [13586/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 27 March 2018
Ceisteanna (513)
Freagraí scríofa
Driver testing in Ireland is carried out directly by the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to a standard that complies with the EU directive on driving licences. Studies show that young drivers and inexperienced drivers are more likely to die or be seriously injured in collisions, and the essential driver training, EDT, the course of 12 one-hour lessons, is one of several measures introduced by the RSA to help improve critical driving knowledge, skills and behaviours of new drivers. However, the completion of the 12 certified lessons does not guarantee that a learner driver has reached the required level of competence in driving. This is proven by the fact that the fail rate of driving tests undertaken by candidates who completed EDT lessons was 47.38% in 2016. This fail rate is the average rate across all test centres, not just in Mullingar.
I appreciate that there is a cost involved in the process of obtaining a driving licence, however I believe that the cost of the driving test is not particularly high as against the cost to the authority concerned to provide the service. The fee is for a certificate of competency which must be produced to obtain a driving licence. The driving test is the means to determine the competency of a driver. It would not be appropriate to offer a reduced fee to a driver if they have failed to meet the criteria and have to sit the test again.