Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party) | Oireachtas source

My office has been inundated with requests from constituents seeking assistance in expediting their driving tests. These are mostly young people and they are waiting ten months or more for a driving test. Many of these have secured job offers but are unable to accept them due to the lack of transportation in rural Ireland. We do not have a frequent bus service, the Luas or regularly available taxis, as urban areas do. Our young people are effectively stranded without access to a car and their parents' work schedules often do not allow for logistical support. We were informed that additional testers would be deployed, yet I am not aware of any new testers in Skibbereen in west Cork. As a solution, we could consider temporarily converting driving instructors into testers. Surely this would be a feasible solution or does the Government have a long-term strategy that is being considered to prevent such backlogs from occurring in the future? Immediate and effective measures are required to address this backlog and support our constituents in their daily lives.

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