Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter. I also thank the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, for coming to the House.

As the Minister of State will be aware, the National Driving Licence Service has opened an office in Ballybrit. Many people continue to travel to the county hall on Prospect Hill to inquire about driver licences or renew existing licences. This service ceased in the county hall in November last and is now provided by the office located in Ballybrit. People find it difficult to find the new office, which has resulted in Galway County Council's decision to produce a map featuring directions from the city centre to the Ballybrit office. Signage in Ballybrit is poor and many motorists who have travelled long distances to Galway find it difficult to locate it.

There is a ruling, however, that one must apply in person at the National Driver Licence Service, NDLS, in Ballybrit. The signage for the centre could be much better. The question arises as to why people have to travel to a centre to appear in person to make an application. Galway is the second largest county and members of the public, particularly those from outside of the city and elderly rural residents who are not familiar with Ballybrit, find it difficult to go to the office when they are used to the old city centre licensing office. It has been suggested an express postal service, similar to that for passport applications, could be put in place, with the added security of the photograph for an application being verified by a garda’s signature. I hope such a service could be put in place as it would be practical, efficient and ensure people would not have to travel long distances to attend the NDLS offices in person.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Kitt for raising this issue. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, had intended to take this matter but he is in the Seanad.

In 2011, the Government decided to centralise the driver licensing service, following an examination of the options related to the requirement for all EU member states to introduce a plastic card licence. The examination found that a centralised system would offer enhanced security and consistency, as well as being more efficient and cost-effective. The Government appointed the Road Safety Authority, RSA, as the lead agency for the plastic card project and for the centralised driver licence system. The necessary legislation to transfer powers for driver licensing to the RSA was put in place through the Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Act 2012.

The RSA operates driver licensing through the NDLS. The NDLS comprises a central unit in the RSA and three outsourced contractors. These are a card producer for the plastic card licence, a front office to engage with the public and a back office to process applications. This service came into operation from 29 October 2013.

There were problems with the speed of processing applications in the NDLS when the system came on stream. Inevitably, these early difficulties led to the build-up of a backlog. The Minister discussed with the RSA at the time the difficulties people were experiencing and how it proposed to address them. The RSA acknowledged there were teething problems when the service opened. The authority responded by increasing resources in NDLS centres experiencing delays, as well as in the licence-processing centre and providing further training to staff.

There are no major technical difficulties now affecting the service. A booking system to allow for customers to make appointments was successfully piloted and is in use in Dublin, Cork and Tullamore. It will be extended on a phased basis to all NDLS offices. The problems which the NDLS experienced in its earlier days are now largely in the past.

In number terms, 250,071 applications have been received since the NDLS was launched on 29 October, with 242,875 of these completed. The total number of applications on hand is 7,196 with licence applications being turned around in five to eight days. Dealing with problem applications is taking longer. These are cases where the application is incomplete, or where further information or documentation is needed to process the application. This involves contacting the customer and finalisation of these applications takes several weeks.

It is evident there are significant numbers of customers who attend NDLS centres without getting their application processed because they have incomplete or incorrect documentation. Some of this arises because there is a tighter ID regime in place than before the NDLS, in line with the SAFE 2 standard. In implementing the Government’s decision to produce the plastic card licence and centralise the licensing service, the RSA was directed to do so using the SAFE 2 standard to authenticate customers' ID. An essential feature of SAFE 2 is face-to-face validation of identity. This process necessitates that customers apply in person for their driving licences or learner permits and have their photograph and signature captured digitally onsite.

Once authenticated under SAFE 2, the person does not need to have their identity verified again. NDLS enhancements under way will in due course provide additional channels through telephone supported by postal and online access for those customers who have been SAFE 2 authenticated. This means those customers who have been through an NDLS office will not have to revisit the service personally once the additional channels are in place. Work is ongoing also with the Department of Social Protection to capture customers who have been through the SAFE 2 process with that Department so as to enable those also to apply or renew licences or permits without having to attend at an NDLS office.

The Minister is continuing to monitor progress in the NDLS but, overall, he is satisfied the RSA has taken appropriate actions to address the problems which have arisen.

I also have engaged with the RSA recently on the signage for its offices in Galway. It informed me additional signage will be erected in the near future to make it easier for people to find them.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact there will be extra signage in place. There is better signage for the other businesses in Ballybrit than there is for the NDLS offices there.

Will the Minister engage with the RSA on the requirement for people to appear personally at the Ballybrit NDLS office? I already mentioned how this affects the elderly. Emigrants working away from home will find it impossible to have their driving licences renewed too. Young Galway emigrants, as the Minister of State knows, are living and working in Australia, Canada, the United States and other countries. They will also find it impossible to have their driving licences renewed or permits issued if they cannot travel personally to the NDLS centre.

The RSA should review having an express postal system similar to that for passport applications which would involve the Garda verifying the applicant’s identity and sign his or her photograph. This would be a practical and efficient way to do business. I hope the RSA will review this as the requirement to attend the NDLS office puts a lot of trouble on people to travel to a centre which they might not be used to travelling to. This requirement also inconveniences many in rural areas as Galway is the second largest county. Whether one is elderly or an emigrant, one will find it difficult to apply or renew a driving licence if this requirement is not changed.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The initial SAFE 2 authentication of the customer’s ID only needs to take place once. Once that has happened, there is no further need for any customer of the NDLS to attend its offices in person.

I agree with Deputy Kitt, however, that there are questions about how our diaspora can go about renewing driving licences. I will raise this with the RSA and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and revert to the Deputy with their responses.