Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The driver-testing backlog is totally unacceptable and must be eliminated as quickly as possible. Each additional month that it takes has a negative impact on road safety. Driver-testing and road safety are directly linked as we have said time and time again and I have said it here. The problem is not just an industrial relations one. It affects people's lives as well. As Deputy Kenny knows the arbitration board in its adjudication pointed out repeatedly that it was not concerned with the merits of the dispute as to how the backlog of driving tests should be solved. However, it felt its continuance represented a potential threat to road safety and the board urged a resumption of discussions at which all opinions — it emphasised all opinions — should be considered with a view to ensuring that a solution is implemented without delay.

The Minister for Transport has gone to exceptional lengths to maximise the contribution that can be made by reducing this problem in the existing system and to try to use existing staff to the maximum. Despite bonus payments, additional recruitments and redeployment of existing civil servants, the backlog cannot be cleared quickly enough. In answer to the Deputy's point, I can see no alternative to contracting for extra resources on a temporary basis. In that context, I want to support the acknowledgement by the Minister for Transport that the staff of the Department, including the public servants who work in the Road Safety Authority, will continue to be the backbone of the service. Nobody is trying to dismantle or discontinue the service. The staff in question represent the backbone and the front line of the service. While they do the job as best they can, they cannot deal with the numbers which exist at present. In this case, the contracting of staff resources has been proposed as a temporary measure. The Minister does not intend to replace the existing staff by assigning their work to other people. There have been discussions between the Minister for Transport and the driver testing unions. The unions have been engaging with the Minister over the last week. The Minister has told me he hopes a satisfactory outcome will be reached. I acknowledge that the unions have engaged actively in the process of trying to find a resolution, even after the arbitration board issued its determination.

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