Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Some have been driving on provisional licences for 20 years, some have had 17 or 18 provisional licences. The point is they have never bothered to apply for a test. Only one in five people bother to apply. That is the reason for the difference as between 120,000 and 430,000. Everybody driving on our roads will have to comply with the new regulations. The position is that the number in question was not focused in by the Road Safety Authority, the Garda, the Department or the Government. The fact that Deputies Gilmore and Kenny mentioned that figure rather than the overall figure shows they did not focus on it either.

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