Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of driving licences. Are the Minister and Minister of State aware of the service being provided by the Road Safety Authority to learner drivers and those seeking to renew their driving licences during this pandemic? Are they aware that learner drivers who booked a test as far back as June 2020 still do not have a test date? Are they aware that learner drivers are regularly on hold for 90 minutes trying to get through to the Road Safety Authority? Are they aware that emails are not being responded to and that booking systems are repeatedly coming up with errors that are not being rectified? Are they aware of the stress and difficulty this is causing for learner drivers across the country, many of whom are essential workers who have spent additional months having to be accompanied by a qualified driver? In some cases, the only qualified driver available is over 70 and should be cocooning. Are the Minister and Minister of State aware of the difficulty this is causing for young rural dwellers, who have no public transport? What plan can be put in place to rectify this?

A person in my constituency wants to renew his driving licence. He is 70 years of age. He submitted all the paperwork last November and his licence expired on 12 December. The person still does not have his new licence and will not put the keys in the car without having it. His son spends 45 minutes at a time on the telephone and all he gets is a reply stating an internal memo will be sent around. This is not good enough. Owing to this complete breakdown, which is partly attributable to the exceptional health circumstances, will the Minister consider giving first-time drivers who have done everything right, who may have bought a car and who have work but cannot get to work a full licence on a temporary basis for up to 24 months on condition that they do their test in the meantime? It would allow them to get insurance and put them on the road on a legal basis. It is crucial where there is no public transport. I would like a reply to those points.

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