Brian Stanley: 25-week driving test waits and two-stage queue
Brian Stanley highlights escalating driving test waiting times after a constituent who applied on 21 May now faces an estimated total wait of about 25 weeks. He says the two-stage system used by the Road Safety Authority is misleading and asks the Taoiseach and Minister for Transport to intervene to shorten delays.
Immediate example
Brian Stanley details a constituent case: an initial 10-week wait to be placed on the waiting list has been extended to 14 weeks, plus an additional average 11.5-week wait for an actual test on the RSA website. Counting both stages, the total delay can reach roughly 25 weeks.
Impact on rural communities and costs
He warns the long waits are creating real difficulties for workers in rural areas and says the delays also push up insurance costs for new drivers.
Request to government bodies
Stanley calls for two measures: that the Minister for Transport and the Road Safety Authority work to shorten waiting times, and that the misleading two-stage booking process be scrapped. He says he will press the Minister to engage the RSA and continue to reduce timelines.
Progress and next steps
While acknowledging some progress in reducing timelines, Brian Stanley insists more must be done to deliver fair and timely access to driving tests. He asks ministers to treat the issue as a priority for workers and rural families affected by lengthy delays.
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Taoiseach, the waiting times for driving tests, at least for a lot of applicants, are not improving. A local woman who sought driving tests back in May, 21st of May, she sought an invitation, she was seeking an invitation, and she was told that it would take 10 weeks to get onto the waiting list, which would be the end of July. That has now been extended to the end of August, which is 14 weeks. She applied for it, she applied for the waiting time, and then there's, according to the RSA website this morning, there's another 11 and a half weeks average to wait. That brings it to a total of 25 weeks, if the two periods are counted. The two stages from requesting a test to actually getting a test is misleading. And I'm asking you to do two things. This long wait is creating a difficulty, particularly for workers in rural areas, like Rath Downey, Clonislea, Vicarstown, the Swan, Ballinachill, Borough of St Austerley, and all those areas. It also means higher insurance. So I'm asking you to do something about these waiting times with the Minister for Transport, to shorten them. And to scrap this two-stage process. It's a misleading process. Look, I talked to the Minister for Transport in respect of this and the Road Safety Authority. I can't operationally run the Road Safety Authority, but there had been some progress in terms of reducing the timelines. And I will talk to the Minister, I'll ask him to engage with the Road Safety Authority to continue to work in getting waiting times for driving tests down.
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