Results 561-580 of 654 for speaker:Michael Murphy
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: Okay. We have received a notification from Senator Duffy that he is allocating his time to Deputy Currie.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: Senator Goldsboro has indicated to me that she is allocating her time to Deputy Cathal Crowe.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I ask Ms Gunne to be very brief.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I acknowledge the members of An Garda Síochána involved in roads policing. I particularly think of Garda Kevin Flatley today. The opening statement made clear that he was very passionate about road safety. I wish to come back to a line of questioning that Deputy Currie had. Dr. Walsh said that approximately 60,000-plus drivers are on a learner permit of more than three years....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: The regulation is being finalised. The Minister has to sign and then there is an effective date. When is the regulation expected to be available to the Minister for signing?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: The concern around the date is the impact that 60,000 learner permit drivers may have on waiting lists for a driving test. Am I right in saying that we have waiting times down to approximately between nine and ten weeks at the moment? If I am recalling the RSA’s action plan correctly, there is capacity in the system to do approximately 7,000 or 8,000 tests per week.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: Has there been any discussion between the RSA, the Department and the Minister in recent weeks about the impact that a surge, if I can call it that, of 60,000 tests may have on waiting times? Is that a concern for the RSA, or can Mr. Waide say to us today that there is capacity within the RSA to take on those 60,000 additional tests? What impact will it have on waiting times?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I wish to press Mr. Waide further because it is critical to close the loophole for learner drivers. On those discussions that the RSA has had with the Minister, is there a strategy being formulated? If the Minister asks what is the effective date by which he can sign this regulation, has the RSA said to the Minister that he has to hold off two or three months or can he do this straight away?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: My time is very limited. Of those 60,000, how many are on ten learner permits or more? Are some of those 60,000 people on 20 learner permits? What people really want to know today is when the regulation will be signed and when it will be effective from.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: A total of 6,000 people are on ten learner permits or more.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I want to press here that closing this loophole is such a serious issue. Has the RSA indicated to the Minister how soon it can take on this additional demand for testing? Is there a date before which the RSA cannot take it on?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: What is the timeframe for this?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: So we will have no idea at the conclusion of this committee meeting whether we can close this loophole from 1 January 2026, 1 June 2026 or 1 January 2027. Is there any indicative time that the RSA can say to this committee, given the importance of closing this loophole? Its impact is very clear. It will save lives. Is the RSA able to give any indication to the committee as to when it can...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: The Deputy has left two minutes for an answer.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: The Deputy might direct his question to a particular witness.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: The Deputy asked about the waiting times for the driving test.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I thank Mr. Walsh. Deputy Cathal Crowe has indicated that he is allocating his slot to Deputy Moynihan, who will be followed by Deputy Currie. Deputy Kelly asked to come in earlier so I will pass the floor to him after Deputy Currie. I call Deputy Moynihan, the Vice Chairman of the committee.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: We will come back to that question because Deputy Moynihan will have another slot later. Next is Deputy Currie. She will be Deputies O'Gorman and Kelly. We will then back to Deputy Moynihan.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: I know Deputy Moynihan left a question hanging with An Garda Síochána.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Road Safety: Discussion (8 Oct 2025)
Michael Murphy: Very quickly, Deputy.