Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)

This is one of the things that utterly frustrates me as a Member of the House. Dealing with the delays in the driving system is not rocket science. It is about scheduling appointments for testing, resources being in place and the testing taking place. Perhaps I am oversimplifying it but it is not something that is beyond the realms of the delivery of a public service. I have to ask the RSA why it is tolerating the excessive delays. The excessive delays we are speaking about in my constituency are up to 31 weeks, slightly above the national average. It is something that affects the entire constituency. This year, thousands of children will sit their junior certificate and leaving certificate exams. Can we imagine if we said to them they would be sitting their exams at some point between now and Christmas but we cannot tell them exactly when, and they will have to apply a week beforehand to see whether they can get a date? We would not tolerate that and we should not tolerate this.

The backlog has built up over time. It needs an interim response to deal with the backlog, and then we need to get back to a system where there is a waiting time of between six and ten weeks. As I said, it is not beyond the realms of possibility; it is about the basic provision of a public service. As others said, it impacts on people's lives and on their insurance costs. It has an impact on their employment opportunities. It has an impact on their ability to plan and progress. It is no wonder we have so many non-attendees. If someone books an event six months ahead, how do they know what might pop up at that time? A non-attendance rate is being baked into the system when people are allowed to book so far ahead.

I welcome the indication of the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, that all options are on the table. This type of can-do attitude is exactly what is needed. Let us not forget there is a responsible authority in the Road Safety Authority. It is responsible for delivering a public service. If it is not able to do so, perhaps it is time we need to start thinking about who can do it. When we budget for, allocate and provide a public service we should not tolerate the inability of people to deliver that service. We have to get back to a reasonable period of a delay of somewhere around ten weeks. It is not tolerable that it would increase every year, which is what has been happening.

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