Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Bill, the purpose of which is to establish the driver testing and standards authority that will be responsible for the driver testing service. However, although this will be the primary function of the authority, its overall aims will not stop there. The role of driver testing in ensuring drivers reach an acceptable level of competence is important in the overall context of road safety. In carrying out these functions, therefore, the authority will have a general duty to promote the development and improvement of driving standards. In this way, the authority will have a significant role in encouraging better driving rather than simply testing driver competence and in encouraging greater road safety rather than simply reducing the test backlog. This is a fundamental development and one which requires serious consideration.

We all agree road safety is a subject that must be tackled on a number of different fronts and with the co-operation of a number of different agencies. We as policy-makers face many different challenges. These include the need to encourage better behaviour by motorists and other road users. We must ensure road users accept traffic rules and are aware those rules will be enforced. We must instill in them an appreciation of a shared duty to ensure the safety of others.

The main challenge for the Government is to achieve the right balance between good legislation, enforcement, education and public awareness measures. It has attempted to strike that balance and, in doing so, has initiated significant road safety policies, many of which have been outlined by previous speakers. They include the initial roll-out of the penalty points scheme, the dedicated Garda traffic corps and the emphasis on driver education, behaviour and awareness, among many others.

The marked reduction in road deaths in 2003 indicated some success in this area. However, the unwelcome increase in road fatalities during 2004 only served to highlight that more must be done if we are to tackle the problem effectively. It gives me no satisfaction to say the problem is getting worse. Like Deputy Durkan, I too commend the Garda Síochána on the enforcement measures it has put in train. The Government continues to work in this area. The road safety strategy for 2004-06 specifically targets continued reduction in road accidents and road deaths. Measures will focus on the areas of education, enforcement and engineering that will target the key areas of speeding, driving while intoxicated, seat belt wearing and vulnerable road users. We could spend all afternoon teasing out the implications of the enforcement of all these aspects of the strategy.

Driver competence and formation is another important aspect of the Government's road safety strategy. This emphasis derives from research which shows that poor driving skills and even poorer driver behaviour have a significant impact on the number of road casualties. Driving is an acquired skill and a particularly demanding one on Ireland's busy roads. There is clear evidence to suggest the manner in which many new drivers are taught is unsatisfactory and that too many drivers take the test ill-prepared.

For many, the training has tended to be about the minimum required to pass the driving test rather than reaching an acceptable level of practice, competence and confidence. If we can convince motorists there is a direct relationship between driver competence and road safety and between driver competence and lower insurance — there is evidence of the latter connection in today's newspapers — we will have achieved something significant. If we convince drivers that better training from the beginning will benefit them directly and indirectly, we will see improved driving standards.

That the authority will be responsible for the registration of driving instructors will add to the improvement of driving practices. Driving instructors are not currently regulated and it will be a matter for the authority to determine how best to fulfil its obligations in this area. The end result will be a register of skilled driving instructors who have passed appropriate tests of their competence to instruct and are endorsed by the authority for that purpose. This is an issue that has been ventilated for a long period. Deputy Finian McGrath may recall it was raised at a teacher conference some years ago in the context of a discussion of the role of teachers in driver education. I welcome the fact that the Minister has devised provisions for the establishment of a register of qualified instructors. Every other area of people instruction requires that practitioners have suitable qualifications and are appropriately registered.

For these reasons, I am confident the decision to establish the driver testing and standards authority represents another building block in our fight to reduce road fatalities. I also welcome the progressive elements of the legislation. For example, the Bill gives the board and staff of the authority the scope to be innovative in carrying out their functions. It allows for the authority to move beyond the basic task of testing and allows it to be more inventive in its approach to the development of better driving standards. While the board of the authority will ultimately decide the best approach to take, I suggest steps be taken towards closer liaison with the education sector, possibly to establish classes on driving theory in post-primary schools. This already happens in some schools. One of our famous rally drivers runs such a programme for transition year students. The uptake is very high and the success rate is quite impressive.

To establish a programme which would ensure young drivers reach a higher standard of basic knowledge prior to receiving even their provisional driving licence would be a significant development and one worth considering. A particularly important objective of this legislation is to bring an end to excessive and unacceptable waiting times. We cannot ignore the fact there is a significant waiting list for driving tests throughout the country. Although improvements have certainly been made, the demand for driving tests continues at a high level. I welcome the initiative announced earlier this week where there will be a drive to ensure measures are taken to shorten the waiting lists by being innovative in the way driver testing can be done. As I am sure other speakers have said, it is very important we maintain standards. Even if we privatise a service, we should not allow the current high standards to slip. We might complain about the long waiting list and the hassle involved in taking a driving test but standards are high and what happens afterwards is another issue which certainly merits examination.

The establishment of the driver testing and standards authority means the necessary flexibility will be in place to respond to variations in demand and to manage numbers throughout the country. Although I do not believe provisional licence holders are, in general, unsafe on our roads, we need to reduce their number. The proportion of drivers currently relying on a provisional licence is 17% of all current licence holders and not the 380,000 which many of us believed, although the percentage is too high. We are determined to reduce this proportion significantly and the establishment of the authority should ensure we can offer driving tests more quickly than at present and thereby reduce the number of provisional driving licences.

As the waiting times for a driving test become more manageable, the Minister has plans to bring forward appropriate amendments to the driver licensing regulations to discourage long-term reliance on provisional licences, which I welcome. After all, a provisional licence is not a driving licence and it should only allow a person to drive for the purpose of learning to drive. I have often thought we could usefully look at the measures in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom whereby one has an "R" on one's front windscreen and rear window for a year after one sits the driving test to indicate that one is still somewhat of a learner. One is always learning but sometimes when the test has been completed successfully and the "L" sign comes down, the speed is ramped up and standards are forgotten about a bit too readily.

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