Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I have a proposal that might be a solution. We have all diagnosed the problem fairly well at this stage. A total of 83,000 applicants were waiting for driver tests in April. The proposal I have today may help solve the long driver test waiting times. Will the RSA work with the approved driver instructors, ADI, in a more effective way? Often the ADI are not fully aware of all aspects involved in a driver test. I call on the RSA to co-operate and use the ADI. The approved driver instructors comprise a large resource of approximately 2,000 people who are not being fully used. They would have a large impact on driver test waiting times if they could be utilised.

ADIs are trained, at great expense, to deliver driver education. All this knowledge and experience is not recognised by the RSA, however, even though it sets the standard for the ADI check test. Why not have driver-testing ADIs similar to those in the UK? An ADI will instruct someone and then use their professional judgment and experience to decide when he or she is ready for the test.

There is a disconnect in the present system from those who teach the learning outcomes - the essential driving training lessons - and those who are test those outcomes. This is causing the long waiting lists. Learners usually apply on the basis of the calendar as opposed to driving hours. Many no-shows are a result. Learners are not test ready as a result of a lack of educational direction.

An ADI-led training programme would be more beneficial. Currently, a learner driver applies for a test and can wait up to eight or nine months for it. They may contact the ADI for pre-test lessons. An ADI-led programme would allow ADIs, subject to training, to conduct tests outside their teaching areas. For example, a system of 25 hours of tuition plus additional personal driving hours and a three-week waiting list to sit the test would be better received by the public.

As stated, ADIs, have invested time and expense to be trained to RSA standards. Many have trained to a level in excess of the RSA standards through external testing qualifications, for example, the national diploma in advanced driving instruction, the Cardigan test and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents advanced driving test bronze, silver and gold. I am sure these qualified ADIs could, with additional training, make up the shortfall in the number of driving testers and help to reduce waiting lists to an acceptable level. The backlog, as other speakers pointed out, is creating many issues for those wishing to meet employment and education requirements, with many losing out on opportunities as a result of the long waiting lists.

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