Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I also thank Mr. Creaney for coming in. I am sorry that it has taken so long to get Fórsa in. I apologise for the conflict that I have, which is unavoidable and sod's law. Fórsa has presented us with a solution to a problem that garnered national attention as we unwound out of Covid but it still has an impact on people all over the country, in terms of waiting for driving tests, which is impacting people being able to move on with their lives, get jobs, accept jobs, apply for jobs, go to college or whatever the case may be. I hope that the RSA will follow through on what its delegation said here today. The RSA has been on notice for a number of months that this has been the case. We have being trying to get representatives of the RSA along with Fórsa representatives to attend a meeting of this committee for far too long. The excuse of Covid did not stack up against the evidence presented where fully qualified testers were not being made permanent in order to reduce the backlogs that we know have made front-page news at various times and have had impacts on the lives of people.

Can Mr. Creaney comment on the current situation compared with when Fórsa first asked to present to this committee? Does he feel progress been made? Does Fórsa need the committee to do more?