Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have been engaging with driving instructors across Lucan, Clondalkin, Palmerstown, Newcastle, Saggart and Rathcoole since the beginning of the year. I have been using their feedback to help shape my requests to the Department of Transport. I thank the Minister of State for taking action on some of the suggestions I have made on their behalf, in particular the move to online driver theory tests. Young people have suffered greatly during this pandemic. They have had to sacrifice an awful lot for the common good and getting on the road and learning to drive is a rite of passage for young people, which has been almost completely taken away from them since the beginning of this pandemic. The backlog of tests created by the pandemic has made getting on the road an even more difficult task than usual. I have been contacted by so many frustrated young people who have had their theory tests cancelled and rescheduled more times than they can count this past year. There are young people who purchased their 12 essential driver theory lessons from a driving instructor more than 15 months ago and who have not been able to sit behind the wheel for their first lesson yet. The Minister of State can imagine how disappointing this is for these young people who see driving as the first big step towards independence. What assurance can she give them and our driving instructors that the backlogs will be cleared?

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