Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the Chairman on this matter. We raised it with the RSA and made the point that these people were on long-term temporary contracts and so had experience and were understood to be capable and competent. Because we were effectively in an emergency situation with a very large backlog, it made sense to employ these people on permanent contracts. The process the Minister of State says had to be undertaken because of EU regulations means that we have lost 30 and are still waiting for the remainder to be interviewed and put in place. It made no sense to us for this to happen. The Chairman and I would have said that the ideal situation would be to give those testers extended contracts rather than employing them permanently. They would have been happy to stay in those circumstances. Like Deputy Carey and every other member of this committee, I am snowed under, inundated, with people looking for driving tests. The bottom line is that the RSA does not have enough driver testers.

There is also a massive discrepancy in the manner in which testers are carrying out their functions and duties. It is a known fact in some parts of the country that some testers are easier or more courteous than others. The whole system of testing needs to be examined and reviewed. It needs to be far more effective and there needs to be far more equality across the country with regard to the testers. From the feedback I get, it is clear to me that, when testers first arrive on the scene, they should be respectful and courteous and should understand that the people they are testing are mostly young people who need support and encouragement. They need to be dealt with in an appropriate way and, in many cases, that is not happening. If, in this day and age, young people are saying they have been offered a job but cannot take it because it entails travelling to work when they cannot get a driving test to get a licence, the Minister of State is going to have to intervene. The RSA seems to be running its own show. The Minister of State and her Department are responsible for the RSA. They need to follow up with it and make improvements in that sector.