Points system creates driving tests backlog

LEARNER drivers have been urged not to apply for a driving test unless they are ready to pass as the Department of

Transport struggles to clear a huge testing backlog.

Since the introduction of the penalty points system in November and the stipulation that all drivers must carry their licence, testing centres have been inundated with new driving test applications.

Currently there is a backlog of 300,000 provisional licence holders while test applications have increased ten-fold this month. From a base of just 4,000 at the beginning of last month 41,000 test applications have been received in the last two weeks.

However despite the increase, an embargo on public service recruitment is blocking the hiring of any new driving instructors to clear the backlog. The country’s 116 driving testers are already working during lunch hours and at weekends.

Speaking yesterday, principle officer of the driving test and licence division of the Department of Transport, Liam Dolan, urged all learner drivers not to waste time by applying for and then cancelling tests and asked people not go for a test until they were ready. Transport Minister Seamus Brennan held a number of meetings yesterday while further discussions are scheduled for today, a spokesman for the Department of Transport said.

However the department declined to specify what measures were being considered and whether any additional funds would be required to clear the mounting backlog.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance did not rule out the possibility of additional funds being made available to hire more driving instructors “Things change throughout the year and we can’t always tell what is going to happen so there is room for manoeuvre,” she said.

Meanwhile the Department of Transport said there were no plans to test the accuracy of speedometers as part of the NCT after motorists expressed concern that inaccurate speedometers could result in inadvertent speeding fines.