Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the confirmation that in order to get your third learner permit, you will have to take a test, but I am frustrated at the delay. There was a commitment made that when the average waiting time for driving tests came down to ten weeks, this would be enacted without delay. That target was reached at the end of August and we are now in October. I want to convey the urgency required for a date.

We needed one date today for when they will be presented and another for when they will be implemented. I will leave that with the Department.

Through parliamentary questions, I have been able to establish that legislation from 2023 that would crack down on the growing use of illegal number plates on our roads is not being enforced. Through the mobility app, the Garda should be able to issue fixed charge notices of €60, but according to responses from the Minister for justice to parliamentary questions, the ICT systems have not been upgraded to allow that to happen. The Garda can issue a summons but I do not believe it will clog up the courts with that. Are the witnesses aware of that discrepancy and that the legislation we passed to make roads policing more efficient and productive has not been implemented? It is a question for all the witnesses, not only the Garda. I appreciate the work it does, but I would like to understand the reasons for this.