Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies who brought forward this motion. It is a scandal, and an avoidable one, that tens of thousands of people are waiting for months to get driver tests to acquire driver's licences. Ideally, and this is what we need to work towards, we would not have such a demand for private car licences because we would have free, frequent and accessible public transport for the vast majority of people in the country and public transport would be an accessible and more attractive option for most of them, rather than driving everywhere. Unfortunately, driving is currently an absolute necessity for many in Ireland because we do not have that sort of public transport system. That is definitely the case in rural Ireland but also for many in urban Ireland. People have to drive to get to work but are faced with this completely avoidable crisis.

Waiting times to book a driving test are three times the official target. That represents a 61% increase in just one year. An incredible 71,554 people are awaiting an invitation to book their driving tests. This is not a complicated issue to solve. The answer is simply that more driver testers are needed.

A constituent of mine was in touch to share his experience. He has spent the past six months on a waiting list to go on a waiting list to get a date for his driving test. He has been advised that when he gets onto this next list to do his test, he could be waiting another six months. In the meantime, he has completed all of the lessons required. He is ready to do his test but has been left waiting. I am obviously not advocating that people should drive without a licence but we should recognise the reality that when the waiting lists are this long, it is inevitable that some people will feel they have no other option than to drive on a learner's permit. The dogs on the street know that this has been happening for years. It is no way to operate a safe road and transport system.

The young man who was in touch with me needs to travel by car due to the lack of public transport to where he works and the fact that he must bring his tools to work with him. If he had the opportunity to pass his test to allow him to drive to work each day, he would not have the stress and uncertainty of getting into trouble for choosing to drive without a licence because it is the only way he can get to work. He has tried hard to get his licence. He has done everything he is supposed to do but the State is failing him. Despite his best efforts, he has been unable to get a fully licensed driver to travel to and from work with him each day. He, therefore, feels forced to drive as a learner without a fully licensed driver in the car. The result is that he has had his car taken from him by the Garda on four occasions. He will have five penalty points on his licence before he even gets his full licence. He has faced the cost of €135 each time to get his car back. The young man has almost lost his job because his car was taken by the Garda one evening on his way home with all his tools for work in it. This is a failure by the State. Young people and anyone else who is looking to get a driving test should not be put in this position. The Government is failing young people for a whole number of reasons and in a whole number of areas. There are cost-of-living, housing and health crises. There has been a failure to meet our climate targets. This is another issue, which is easily resolved. The key requirements are to expedite the recruitment of additional driver testers and to implement a plan to ensure that the official target of the maximum of a ten-week waiting period, which is more unobserved than observed at this stage, is met.

It is obviously welcome that the Government said it is not opposing this motion or tabling an amendment to oppose it and, therefore, it will presumably pass unanimously pass in 40 minutes. The problem is we all know that every two or three weeks, a motion like this on some issue passes unanimously in the Dáil because the Government does not oppose it. Unfortunately, however, it does not signify any willingness by the Government to actually do anything about it. The Government is simply happy to pass these motions and say, "This stuff is terrible, and something should be done", but then not look at itself and say, "We are the ones who have the power to do something about it." Unfortunately, it seems to me that often the Government chooses not to oppose these motions not out of a genuine commitment to implement what is set out in the motion or tackle the issue but out of a purely cynical idea that it is better not to be seen to oppose a motion because it is popular, and the less it opposes it, the less attention will be given to the issue. I hope this is not the case here. I hope the Government will implement what is set out in the motion. If it does not, as I fear will be the case, we certainly will use the motion as a stick against the Government to say, "Wait a minute, you agreed to and did not oppose this motion and allowed it to pass unanimously. Why have you not acted on it?" It will be very clear where the responsibility for this problem lies. It will be very clear to the 70,000 people waiting for these tests that responsibility lies with the Government and the Government is choosing not to act.

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