Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The next slot is a Fianna Fáil slot. I will take it if that is all right with everybody. I thank the witnesses for being here. It is not that long since they were here. As a committee, we had hoped we would have Applus with us before the summer, but I think it was not willing to come in without the RSA beside it. Everyone is here today. I point out to all members that we have a full three-hour slot next week on road safety, so I will not let people discuss road safety generally other than where the NCT is there to promote and improve road safety by making sure defective cars are not on the road and defective cars are found and so on. We can refer to that.

On the driving licences, we had the coach transport people in from Bus Éireann and so on. They said that one side of the Department of Transport is promoting active travel and public transport while a different part of the Department of Transport seems to be frustrating people getting public service vehicle licences, particularly in the last part, where people actual pass their test and are waiting for a little bit of plastic. That can take five or six weeks to get. What is the RSA doing to make sure that the throughput of commercial driver licences, especially for public transport licences but also for any other D licences, including hauliers and so on, is addressed? What is happening there? It seems that people pass their test and there is nothing to stop them from driving except for the possession of a piece of plastic.

I think it is called a certificate of competency. Yet, they cannot drive without it. They are just waiting for it to arrive in the post. Why is that backlog so big and why is that waiting period so long?