Mr. Sam Waide:

The Deputy has rightly pointed out that people apply for learner permits but do not do a test. The issue has been discussed by the Road Safety Partnership Board. It is one of the ministerial priorities which has been agreed. In fact, the RSA is the lead agency in addressing that. Reference was made to the law. This issue does need legislative change but first we need to address the driving test backlog and reduce the waiting time to ten weeks. As the Deputy has rightly pointed out, a significant number of people are on their third or more learner permits. That will be addressed through the legislative change and the RSA will be able to implement the legislative change.

I will pass on the request for more detail on addressing the issue of learner permits to my colleague, Mr. Walsh.