Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Welcome back, everybody. I apologise for being late. I had another meeting that ran over.

I thank the delegates for the information I have just learned. I encounter the same issues, obviously. It is quite hard for people to understand delays until April, May and June next year, but I appreciate that everything is being done to fix this.

On a separate note, my question today is about a story in the Irish Examinerduring the summer that was actually really hard to believe, although I probably should not have found it really hard to believe. It was about the increasing number of complaints of harassment by driving instructors.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of complaints are made of male driving instructors by women. One driving instructor told a 28-year-old woman who was getting lessons in his car that she was drop-dead gorgeous and asked if she was single. Apparently, he asked "Who's your daddy?" 15 times during the course of one lesson. The woman has made a formal complaint to the RSA. Another approved driving instructor, ADI, who was in his 60s, apparently told a 22-year-old girl that girls on their period never do well during their driving tests because they get flustered and confused at that time of the month. These are only two examples. I do not need to say how despicable that kind of behaviour is.

One hundred and twenty-eight complaints were made by learner drivers about certain instructors last year, but it was particularly notable that the number of complaints made was seven times that made in 2021. Maybe that was because of Covid or maybe there were not as many driving instructors involved in 2021, but it is awful in this day and age that any lady, girl or woman would be subjected to the kind of behaviour in question in the very narrow confines of a car, where they are vulnerable because they are learning and with somebody considered an expert. The delegates might not be able to speak about these specific points. In general, what is the due process for people making the kinds of complaints in question? What is the response of the RSA when complaints are made against drivers?