Driving tests: now where did we hear that before?
In a speech to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry he said it was “unacceptable from a customer service point of view that test applicants can find themselves waiting up to 60 weeks for a test date.”
It appears one of the ‘new’ ideas proposed to tackle the problem is to recruit more testers.
Am I the only one who gets a sense of déjà vu when I hear these statements and commitments? It seems that almost every few months the same old promises are made and the same old solutions announced.
In fact, the only thing that has changed in the last 35 years is the name of the minister and that of the department.
Here are some examples. In 1979, the then incumbent in the Department of the Environment, Seán Barrett, stated in the Dáil that waiting times of 33 weeks for driving tests were unacceptable and he would address this issue by recruiting more testers.
In 1988, the then minister, Pádraig Flynn, said in response to a parliamentary question that he would tackle the long waiting lists by recruiting more testers and by introducing Saturday testing.
In October 2000, the then secretary general in the Department of the Environment, Jimmy Farrelly, was reported as saying to an Oireachtas committee that the waiting times would be reduced to 10 weeks by September 2001.
At present, the average waiting time at all centres is over 40 weeks, according to the department’s own website.
In light of this, I would advise the many people waiting for, or applying for, a test not to hold their breath that the backlog will be reduced or cleared anytime soon.
James Doorley
Deanhill
Hayes
Navan
Co Meath
