Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 2 March 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Pre-legislative Scrutiny of Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019

Photo of Cathal CroweCathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to confirm that I am on the Leinster House campus. I welcome the witnesses. There are a few points I would like to raise. First, I received an email this week from a young constituent who is completing his leaving certificate. He wants to be a paramedic more than anything. To be a paramedic, one must have a full licence. It is a requirement of enrolment into college, which is unique for any third level course. He has applied for a B category theory test, and has a date for the test in May 2021. Going on current waiting lists, it could be well into August before he could provisionally obtain his full licence. With such a delay, he will not get his college place. He is already looking at plan B and the possibility of taking a year out. It is ludicrous that a delay in obtaining a driving licence would inhibit a 17-year-old who is planning a career as a paramedic in such a way. It is a front-line health service profession. The issue must be looked at. There are a number of students in this predicament, right throughout the country. In a normal year, it would be tricky for them to get a test date but it is particularly awkward this year. I ask Mr. Naughton to respond.

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