Variations in driving test results unexplained

LARGE variations in the pass rates at different driver testing centres around the country still defy explanation, the public spending watchdog has complained.

The average national pass rate is 52%, down from 57% 10 years ago, but in some of the 49 test centres the success rate is as much as 13% higher while in others it is 10% lower.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), John Purcell, whose job it is to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of public services, questioned the variations which he has drawn attention to previously.

Notwithstanding the additional training for testers and more intensive training arranged for those testers who diverge from the normal pattern, “there continues to be a variation in pass rates”.

Mr Purcell also highlighted the ongoing problem of lengthy waiting times for tests. In 1998 when he first drew attention to the problem, the average waiting time was 30 weeks when the target was 10 weeks. That target was reached for a time in 2002 but it was back to 27 weeks in February this year.

He said much of the increase in waiting times was down to a surge in test applications following the introduction of penalty points and “media speculation” about changes to the test format but Mr Purcell also criticised the main trade union involved, IMPACT, for its resistance to changes in working arrangements.

“This lack of flexibility restricts the ability of management to deploy testers where and when they are needed,” he said.

He noted that negotiations are ongoing with IMPACT and said a bonus scheme and the contracting out of some testing should also bring about a reduction in testing times this year. However, he also noted that only three testers had taken up the last bonus option.

Mr Purcell published 17 reports on different public services and sectors yesterday, all of them assessing responses to criticisms made in earlier investigations carried out between 1997 and 2000. In six cases he commended the response as “excellent”, in six it was “reasonable” and in five it was “limited”.

“Overall there is considerable scope to improve performance in the delivery of public services. Progress in addressing economy issues was disappointing,” he said.

The reports also examined how the collection of garda and district court fines was now being carried out after an earlier report found that there was “almost no overall management or coordination of the fines system”.

The new report recalled that a high level interdepartmental group was set up to look at solutions and that it recommended the establishment of an executive office under the responsibility of the Department of Justice to coordinate the area but his office was never set up because of the lack of resources.

Instead a pilot outsourcing scheme was adopted which gave a sample of 5,500 overdue fines totalling €2.1 million to a private credit management agency to see if they could recover them. The agency managed to recover just €380,000 or 16% of the outstanding fines.