Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)

I almost feel sorry for the Ceann Comhairle because she is hearing the same story over and over again from every Deputy who has spoken.

The Minister of State, Deputy Jerry Buttimer, and I share a constituency in Cork. He will be aware that 39 weeks is the average waiting time. We seem to be a country of waiting lists. We are very good at creating waiting lists and long waits for everybody. Families are being discommoded. It is not working.

The RSA is not fulfilling its duty. There was a suggestion made by other speakers - those on the Government benches made it as well - that we start using the services those who teach people to drive and use them, when suitably qualified, as testers.This would not mean that the driving instructor who gave a person their 12 lessons would give them their licence. However, we could start using the services of these people who are accredited and who have been teaching people how to drive for the past number of years or for the entirety of their careers. That should be allowed to happen, regardless of whether a guy is a driving instructor in Mallow and is testing someone in Cork or a guy from Cork is testing someone in Mallow.

The reality is that the current system is not working. Every TD has told the Minister of State that. Everyone has said the same thing over and over again today. So something is wrong. Something is broken.

Families are being discommoded continuously. Young people who cannot get to college are delaying taking up their courses and so on. What is happening is unacceptable. We are going to have to think outside the box a little.

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