Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken to driving instructors in west Cork. They feel they were disowned in this crisis. The responses given by the RSA to instructors were either non-existent or were childish during this pandemic. The RSA takes a fee of €250 per instructor every two years for registration. It never answers regarding what that money is spent on. It is definitely not spent on correspondence fees. The RSA has what it describes as an ADI stakeholder forum. The representative is not even known to my local instructors.

The Minister of State said this is not an essential service. That is very unfair to so many people out there who need to go to work and to avail of essential services. I appreciate that the Minister of State said that additional test centres are being examined. In an area as huge as west Cork, however, Skibbereen test centre cannot be expected to take all the workload. Areas such as Bandon, Clonakilty and Kinsale need test centres open, and this certainly must be deemed an essential service. I plead with the Minister of State, and with the Minister who should be here, to come before the people and put this right for once and for all. This situation should not be allowed to drag on for several more years.

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