Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Rural Independent Group for tabling this important motion. Young constituents reach out to my office all the time who are unable to take up further and higher education, apprenticeships and jobs because of these disgraceful delays. Towards the end of the summer, my office was contacted by a young man from north Clare, who was due to start at the college in Pallaskenry in September and needed to travel from his home and back daily. The young constituent told me:

I can't use student accommodation due to the cost and the fact that I will be farming at home myself. I did try to get all this done sooner but I only turned 17 in October last, then it took a long time for driving instructors to have availability, then there was an issue with the RSA system that my lessons took weeks and weeks to upload and now I have the issue of waiting on a driving test. In the meantime, I saved up and bought my own car and insurance.

It's not an option for me to be dropped and collected to Pallaskenry every day and there is no realistic public transport option to help get me there and back.

I wrote to the RSA to see if anything could be done. I was told that the wait time was extremely high in Clare and he could wait for the five months. There was no cancellation list and no early appointments were possible. This was an absolute disgrace and on behalf of that young man and the many other young constituents, I ask the Minister of State to get proactive about this situation. We have been discussing this issue on the floor of this Chamber for weeks and months. I ask the Minister of State to take heed of this motion and act on the issue, rather than just not oppose it. The fact that there is no prioritisation for any individual based on individual circumstances is incredible. Rural women have contacted me who are pregnant and are against the clock, but they are unable to access services, supports and even appointments because they cannot get an earlier appointment. That needs to be addressed.

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