Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue for discussion today and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, for coming to the House to deal with it.

I raised this issue in January with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, when the guidelines for issuing new driving licences were published. I have since been approached by several professional photographers seeking a clear, concise and logical reason they will not be permitted to supply images for the new driving licences. I have failed to date, based on the information available, to do so. To be fair, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, referred my earlier query to the Road Safety Authority, from which I received a substantive response. I also received a follow-up response from Mr. Noel Brett, CEO of the RSA, for which I am grateful. However, I remain unconvinced of the reasons given for centralising and monopolising this service.

The main reasons for these changes were supplied to me and to the industry. The first is identity validation. I would have thought the presentation of a photograph to the Garda Síochána, which is duly stamped and signed by a garda, to be pretty tight security of identity. It could be argued that in handing over this authorisation to ordinary citizens - namely, staff of the RSA - we are weakening this security. The second reason is the need for the highest available standard of quality. I am sure it will take little to convince the Minister of State that professional photographers would have no problem providing images in any format, quality or specification, should they be afforded the opportunity to do so. The third reason is the provision of a faster and more effective service. To give this as a reason for the change is to highlight the lack of good, valid reasons. We are talking in this regard about the difference between postage times, which range from 12 to 24 hours nationally. In my opinion, this timescale will not alter customer satisfaction in any shape or form. I would argue that people will have to plan more time and possibly take a half day or a full day off work to attend an NDLS centre, which could be located up 50 km from them, thus prolonging the process for the applicant. In my experience, having discussed this issue over the past few months with local photographers, they are more than aware of the acceptable guidelines for driving licences and passports, which to date have been more particular than those for driving licences and demand a higher level of security. It was also stated that during the tender process bidders were afforded an opportunity to select paper or digital images, and all opted for digital images. This is hardly surprising. All businesses worldwide, as well as ordinary people, now opt to carry out their business online rather than by using paper, envelopes and stamps.

I could possibly, but reluctantly, attempt to understand all of the above if it were not for the fact that in the context of the renewal of licences, all of these reasons go out the window. For example, as the end product in respect of a licence that is being renewed will be exactly the same as the original, the image is not an issue; as a person could change somewhat over a ten-year period, it is also not an issue; faster and more effective service to the customer is not an issue, and minimising the number of customers turned away also becomes irrelevant.

I sought permission to raise this matter largely because of jobs. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, is at pains to cut red tape for small businesses, and indeed is succeeding. In contrast, this proposed change affects small businesses by preventing them from providing this service. Last year, almost 700,000 new licences were issued. At an average cost of €8 for photographs, this represents a loss of trade to the sector of between €5 million and €6 million, which is a very significant loss in the current economic climate. I urge the Minister to direct the RSA to review this matter so as to keep these jobs and revenues in local communities.

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