Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Shortall raised two issues. The immediate challenge of getting rid of the backlog is fundamental to doing anything on all the issues on which we have both enunciated. That issue has to be sorted out immediately. The road safety authority will be given responsibility to devise a new system, taking on board the good reports and recommendations available. If I got all the money in the morning and 100 people I could not put them into the system. The system itself would not allow it. There is a simple reason for that. For example, if somebody does not turn up at 10 a.m. for a test or telephones after half an hour, nothing happens. They all sit back and wait until somebody arrives whereas in modern systems that I have seen in other countries texting systems are in place. They have lists of people who are ready to take a test at short notice. In this way the system can continue to operate.

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