Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Creaney. As we have all articulated, it is important, predominantly for young people and those getting into the system who have not applied for a driving licence before and are in the process. In many places in Ireland, public transport is not a viable option. People may not own a car but have the use of one. They want to be able to have a part-time job in the evening, travel to college, live their lives and participate in society. Many people want to get jobs and sometimes a car is needed for work and sometimes it is needed to get to work and public transport is not a viable option in some places. Everything the driver testers do is important for all our lives, especially so that people drive safely for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, road deaths are not going in the right direction at the moment, admittedly after vast improvement over many years. The last year or two has seen a reversal of that. We are all conscious of that and it is why we spent the past two hours discussing road safety.

The point Mr. Creaney made about the need for driver testers not to be on rolling temporary contracts is relevant. We need a bigger base of testers anyway, based on our increasing population, our young population and people coming from other countries. I thank Mr. Creaney for his opening statement. We will continue to be available to engage with him as necessary. I thank him for being here.