Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In April of last year, the then Fianna Fáil Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and now Minister for public expenditure, described the prior hiring of 30 testers as not enough. He assured us that we would see significant progress between October and the end of the year and that we would get back to a ten-week waiting time early in the following year. It is now early 2025 and the backlog has increased by nearly 10,000 in the past three months, having increased by more than 4,000 since mid-January alone, with no sign of abatement. This is yet another instance of a Fianna Fáil Minister overpromising in advance of an election, only to underdeliver in the clear light of day. The impact of this failure is very real. More than 1,200 drivers in Cavan and Monaghan are stuck paying expensive insurance policies. People have no choice but to use their cars to get to work or college and to go about their daily lives.

I thank my party colleague and Sinn Féin spokesperson on transport, Deputy Pa Daly, for bringing forward this motion and outlining, in the first instance, the need for the Minister to take responsibility and take immediate action to recruit new permanent driver testers rather than continuing to rely upon temporary hires. In principle, it is straightforward - when demand for public services increases, it must be matched by the resources necessary to meet that demand. It is clear that, as of today, the RSA does not have the capacity to address these backlogs and that what is needed is the drafting and urgent implementation of a plan to achieve the statutory minimum waiting time of ten weeks. Sinn Féin has outlined what is required. It is now for the Minister to show if he is capable of delivery.

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