Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

Driving test waiting times are a shambles. This is clear from the discussion today. I regularly get emails from constituents. Constituents are given absurdly long waiting times to be called to sit their driving tests. This means people are forced to pay very high insurance costs because the Government simply cannot get its act together on this issue. I remember almost five years ago the issue was raised in the Chamber quite a lot. At the time Covid was the reason for delays in driving tests. We are, however, now in 2025 and we are still dealing with the issue.  The backlog has ballooned by more than 10,000 since the start of the year.

In February, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion proposing a suite of measures to tackle the issue head on. While the Government did not oppose the motion, it certainly seems it has ignored it.  The best we got was lip-service and there is probably more of that in stock today.

I recently received a query from one constituent who is a young mother. She is having to pay a very high rate of insurance. She badly wants to sit her test, but it is not scheduled to take place until later this year. She is also concerned that the driving centre in Clifden could close for the summer. I have written to the Minister of State's Department about this and I understand this will be passed on to the RSA, but I have not yet gotten confirmation about it. I am certainly hoping that nothing as daft as a test centre closing is planned given where we currently are with the backlogs. As of the end of last month, 1,277 people were waiting for a test in the Carnmore centre. There were 1,106 people waiting in the centre in the Clybaun Hotel, with 299 waiting in Clifden. Between February and April, the numbers waiting increased across all Galway-based test centres. The only ones who benefit from this situation are the insurance companies which can charge higher rates for longer. Great news for them as they increase premiums as per usual.

If people cannot do the test to get a full driving licence, it impacts on their lives. It has a huge impact for apprentices who might want to start their apprenticeship but it is a distance away and they need to be able to drive to it. This is a serious issue for them because they cannot start that apprenticeship. It is the same for somebody who wants to start a job in places that are more rural such as Clifden, which is one and a half hours drive from Galway. That is a serious issue for people. It is also a big issue for people who are trying to access housing. In Galway city, for example, often there are no houses within the HAP limit, which means people have to look further afield. If a person cannot drive, it is a serious issue.

This issue has been raised for a number of years now and we need to get to the bottom of it. We need to tackle the issue head on. I would like the Government to listen to the proposals by all Members on it. The Government did not oppose the Sinn Féin motion in February but there has not been action. That is why we are still dealing with the issue. I ask the Minister of State to please act.

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