Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their ongoing engagement with the committee. This meeting relates also to driving tests, of which there is a huge backlog. In response to an oral parliamentary question I submitted to the new Minister of State with responsibility for the issue, Deputy Chambers, last week, it was revealed that in County Clare, my constituency, the average waiting time amounts to 35 weeks in Shannon, 20 weeks in Ennis and 15 weeks in Kilrush, whereas the service level agreement stands at ten weeks. These issues are causing significant problems, not least in rural areas that do not have public transport. People cannot get to college or work and they have to wait all this time to get a test.

I accept that the RSA has tried to rectify the situation and has employed 30 additional testers, but it took the best part of a year to take on 30 people and get them working in December. They had been approved early last year but it was December by the time they came on board and started working. I secured a commitment from the Minister of State that redeployment would happen to areas where the lists are very long. That has to happen in County Clare and I would like the witnesses to confirm it will happen to reduce the numbers further.

I welcome the authority’s plans to increase the complement of driving testers from 130 to 170, but it is going to hire 40 testers again on a temporary basis. Assuming it gets sanction from the Department - I urge the Department to do that as quickly as possible - it will take the best part of a year to recruit those 40 testers and, at the end of the day, they will be temporary. The witnesses will recall that people who were employed on a temporary basis had their contracts extended three or four times. For whatever reason, they were let go and the RSA would not take them on permanently, which was regrettable because the solution was in our hands. We should have looked for a derogation against it due to all the waiting lists. A good case was to be made to retain those people. Instead of these proposed 40 positions being taken on temporarily, they should be permanent. The RSA should look to the Department, and rather than look for temporary contracts, make them permanent. We have a growing population and an ageing fleet of cars. The RSA needs to employ these people permanently. Will the witnesses address that? Will they ensure people are redeployed to County Clare to get through these tests more quickly? It is not acceptable that someone would have to wait for 35 weeks - the average now in Shannon - 20 weeks in Ennis or 15 in Kilrush, and the Minister of State said as much. We need to redeploy people to Clare to get through those lists as quickly as possible. Will the witnesses give an assurance in that regard?

In respect of recruiting, appointing people temporarily and then letting them go is a folly. Having trained them for the best part of a year, we let them go. They should be employed permanently and I would like to get an assurance from the witnesses that they will look at that again.