Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. I welcome the motion from Sinn Féin. If I follow up on a query from a parent or from someone my own age about a delay in getting an appointment for a test, the RSA tells me to contact different test centres around the country.

Asking a person from Cork to come to Dublin or even further afield to do their test is absolute madness. There is no quality there when it comes to trying to get those tests and those appointments fulfilled as quickly as possible. I will give the example of Evan, who is around my age. He applied for his driving test on 6 December and was given a date of 16 June. That is unbelievable.

The Minister of State, particularly in his new position, will be well aware that much of the Cork North Central constituency is rural. For people in the likes of Watergrasshill, Carrignavar, Whitechurch, Mourneabbey, Burnfort, Rahan or wherever they may be, access to public transport is not forthcoming. Therefore, people rely on the car to get to and from work, college or school. One parent I met gets up early in the morning, travels to Munster Technological University every morning, drops the child off there and has to go to her own job. She then has to go and collect the child in the evening before going home. That is extraordinary. The child is waiting for a driving test. Waiting times of up to six or seven months are absolutely outrageous.

I again welcome this important motion from Sinn Féin.

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