No fee hike to tackle driving test waiting list

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen has ruled out any increase in the cost of driving tests in order to fund the Government’s latest plans to tackle lengthy test waiting lists.

A spokesperson for Mr Cullen said he would not sanction any increase on the €38 fee, despite a consultants’ report which claimed the current system for testing learner drivers was “loss-making”.

The minister has revealed plans to employ private driving testers to assist in holding an additional 80,000 tests over a year, reducing average waiting times to less than 10 weeks by the end of 2006.

Almost 125,000 people are waiting to sit the test, with an average waiting period of 31 weeks.

In some parts of the country, including Dungarvan in Mr Cullen’s own Waterford constituency, learner drivers experience delays of 15 months to get an appointment. The shortest waiting time is at Loughrea, Co Galway, where the average waiting time is just 14 weeks.

However, IMPACT - the union representing around 120 driving testers - expressed concern yesterday that the minister’s plans to cut waiting lists were incomplete.

IMPACT spokesperson Louise O’Donnell said the proposals failed to address a number of practical issues relating to road safety, including the qualifications of driving testers hired by a private contractor.

“Clearing the backlog is important but maintaining and improving standards of road safety is vital,” said Ms O’Donnell.

The Department of Transport is shortly expected to issue a tender for a private company to conduct 40,000 tests per annum until the backlog is cleared.

Under a bonus scheme, State driving testers will carry out a similar number of additional tests through a combination of overtime on Saturdays, evenings and lunchtimes.

The minister also plans to lift the embargo on public service jobs by hiring driver testers.

However, it is unclear if Mr Cullen will adopt the chief recommendation of a recent consultants’ report that the number of test centres be reduced.

IMPACT has warned that conditions in test centres are overcrowded with no capacity for private testers.

Fine Gael transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell welcomed the plans but warned standards must not be allowed to slip.