Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I agree the situation is unacceptable. The Minister for Finance has been very supportive of me in providing the financial resources to achieve the outcome we need, namely, an end to backlog. I never want to see backlogs recur and it is undoubted that this proposal will end the backlog. When the backlog is out of the way, we will be have the capacity to keep the full complement of driver testers in place. When the new authority is established, resources will be fully available to it to meet demands.

The existing Civil Service structure is not the right one for the reasons outlined by the Deputy, namely, the system needs flexibility within a public service mandate. This is the best approach. It is a win-win situation for everybody and, above all, it is a win for the young drivers and others who need to get their driving licences. I do not want a position sustained whereby huge numbers of young people are driving on their second, third and fourth provisional licences. That is not the way we should operate the driving licence system.

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