Mr. Brendan Walsh:

There were a couple of things there. The first is that the instructors are responsible for delivering the 12 EDT lessons, but the learning to drive curriculum requirement is that trainees will drive for 48 hours and 36 hours should be done by a sponsored driver. That can be the ADIs or it can be somebody's mum or dad or somebody who has a full licence. The six months waiting time is about ensuring that people who have gone through the EDT process will have time to practise before taking the driving test. We pretty much have a one-in-two failure rate and this is not good enough. We need to work on how we are going to increase the pass rate. Of the people coming through the process, one in two is failing. As I said, the pass rate has slightly increased. It was about 53% for last month, which is great because it shows that in a twisted way the waiting time has meant that when people get their tests they are passionate for them and have practised enough. The key thing here is giving the individual the practice time and the maturity on the road to allow them to take the test under pressure. Driving with a sponsor or an instructor is different. I remember taking my test and it is a worrying time. It is about building up the confidence of candidates and their practice hours, which are significant compared with the number of EDT lessons the instructors provide.