John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State's initial comments where he outlined the measures he had taken to try to repair this system which is clearly broken. While I recognise that this is something he has inherited, the measures he outlined at the outset of the debate will go some way towards remediating the issues presented here. As has been well outlined by others, it is deeply frustrating for people who want to move on. They may have a professional opportunity. I am familiar with the case of someone who wants to emigrate and wants to get a driver licence beforehand, but unfortunately may not be able to do so by the time that person is due to leave. I share the concerns of others.

I will talk locally for a minute. At the outset of his contribution, the Minister of State mentioned that the time people were waiting for the invite varied from location to location. I think he mentioned 42 weeks as being one of the longest.

I know where that is. That is in the west of Galway city. I would support any effort to increase the number of testers in that location.

I have a query about the personnel who work in each testing centre. Something I find puzzling has to do with how there are two test centres in the environs of Galway city, one in Carnmore in the east and the other in Clybaun in the west. There are nearly 1,300 applications in Carnmore, with an estimated time to invite of 21 weeks, and just over 1,100 in Clybaun, with an estimated time to invite of 42 weeks. While both centres have approximately the same number of applicants, the time one must wait in Clybaun is twice what it is in Carnmore. Could we get some clarity on that? Do all test centres have the same staffing levels? The Minister of State will be aware that the facility in Clybaun is a temporary one but it is important that we maintain a driving test centre on the west side of Galway city. We hope the Minister of State will help to remediate the traffic concerns of Galway. Having a test centre on each side of the city is important.

I was approached recently by somebody who had availed of a driving licence in the US, moved to France, had that US driving licence recognised in France, was given a French driving licence, came to Ireland and despite having an EU licence in France, cannot get an Irish driving licence to replicate the US one. I would like the Minister of State to examine this.

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