Driving Test waiting times 'could be cut to 10 weeks'

Driving test waiting times could be slashed to an average of 10 weeks by the end of the year, a financial watchdog said today.

A report released from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (C&AG) office revealed the average waiting time had dropped from 34 weeks in 2005, to 27 in February of this year, with a drop to 10 weeks expected in the coming months.

But C&AG John Purcell criticised a leading trade union for resisting attempts at staff reorganisation, leading to a backlog in certain centres around the country and a failure to provide value for money.

The report also criticised other aspects of public sector performance, including the ambulance service and GP prescribing practices, which it said had failed to deliver significant improvement.

“The average waiting time for 2005 was 34 weeks,” the report stated.

“However, by February 2007, this had fallen to an average of 27 weeks and the redeployment of former Department of Agriculture staff and recruitment of additional testers had brought waiting times down even further in a number of centres.

“As the tests being undertaken by the outside contractor got under way from late October, further reductions in waiting times are expected.

“The Minister for Transport has obtained additional funding of €10m for the RSA in 2007 to enable the Authority to make further significant reductions in the numbers awaiting a test during 2007, with a view to reducing the waiting time to 10 weeks in the course of the year.”

Mr Purcell strongly criticised the IMPACT trade union for rejecting the reorganisation of staff, which would allow testers to be deployed when and where they are most needed.

This, Mr Purcell wrote, was a lack of flexibility which led to long and uneven driving test waiting lists nationwide.

The report was part of a series which looked at the response of various parts of the public service to a previous C&AG study carried out some years ago.

“Following a review of the response of State Bodies to the findings of 17 Value for Money Reports issued in the period 1997 to 2000, the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, has today published a set of case studies on the extent of performance improvement to date and the scope for further improvement,” a C&AG spokesman said.

The response to the concerns expressed in the 17 reports varied.

Five areas were deemed to have made little progress.

These included Inland Fisheries, GP Prescribing Practices, Emergency Ambulance Services, Driver Testing Service and Fines collection.