Results 3,981-4,000 of 26,006 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Let us say, 200,000. That is still 155,000 above the norm. How will the RSA pull that back to 12 days, when Mr. Walsh says there are approximately 200,000 on the waiting list, rather than the current 25 days? That does not bear out in terms of people going up on the authority's system. It appears the current minimum is three months. In some cases that is being pushed out to six or seven...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Quarter 2 of 2023, with due respect, is the bones of nine months away. How can Mr. Walsh justify that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Why is the RSA not hiring additional staff? What is the capacity of the testing centres? There are 49 testing centres. What weekly capacity could they go to, if the RSA could hire as many staff as possible and work around the clock? Mr. Walsh tells me the authority is doing 30,000 per week. What is its maximum capacity?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: How long has Mr. Walsh been with the RSA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Therein lies the rub. With due respect, the RSA is telling the public that it will be nine months before the waiting time gets back to 12 days. It is saying it only needs an additional 63 staff and that 22 of those are coming from Spain with the Applus+ operations - they are only coming this week. Another 44 Filipinos are coming in on work permits. When will they take up employment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is a numbers game. When will the additional five centres in Shannon, Dublin north, Cootehill, Fermoy and Castleisland be set up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is next year, again. I ask the RSA to go back to the drawing board. Nine months is not an acceptable time for people to wait. It needs to get on to the Garda and link in with its system. People are being stopped and some of them are getting three penalty points through no fault of their own. It is more difficult to get penalty points cancelled than to get them in the first place....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Applus+ has 552 employees. It has another ten on board, which would make 562. What can it take within its current 49 centres, which is 109 lanes. How many staff could it take in total?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Can I put it in context?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: The NTA has a contract with Applus+ to do the work. It is supposed to deliver within 12 weeks-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: We expect the RSA to enforce that contract. Members of the public are being severely discommoded at present. They are worried about getting penalty points at Garda checkpoints. They are worried about insurance. Most people want their cars roadworthy. I ask the RSA to back to the drawing board with Applus+ and see what it can do to bring this back before Christmas which is two months...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is Applus+ just a day shift?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Well, I am sorry, but it needs to do night shifts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Applus+ dropped from 595 to 552 employees and only advertised for staff last July. It only applied for visas for the foreign staff coming in from the Phillipines in September. The 22 staff from Spain, with due respect, are just off the plane. We are public representatives and we have to call it as we see it. The explanations here today are not sufficient and the only way this can be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: With regard to driver testing for people doing tests, the RSA needs to re-engage with the 35 staff that were let go because the number of testers has fallen by that number. They should be a considerable factor in bringing the numbers up to 165. How long will it take to bring the wait from 15 back to ten weeks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is Mr. Walsh's ambition?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is still too long.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: It needs to be looked at. Car rental companies, at present, can have nine cars in with the RSA at any one time and they are under considerable pressure to get cars through. They are going to sites with the public and, in many cases, ordinary members of the public are being pushed back. We ask Mr. Walsh to engage with the rental companies to see what can be done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: We ask that the RSA, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, engage with foreign operators to see what can be done. It makes no sense that they can apply for a visa through the Department, at which time the RSA works on the licence and then, in many cases, wait many months when they arrive in Ireland before they can drive a truck. That makes no sense. I ask the officials...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Engagement with Road Safety Authority (12 Oct 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Collectively as a committee, we would be very supportive of any additional resources the RSA requires. Whatever it requires, it should come back to us. We will support it in its endeavours with the Department of Transport or any other body.