Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I join in the expressions of sympathy for Máire Buckley, who was a native of Newcastle West. Many of the people of the town who know the Buckley family well were stunned by the news. She was a beacon of light in educational circles and was known for her work with the disadvantaged in the inner city.

On a regular basis statistics are published on the numbers waiting for driving tests. Ireland has a road safety problem which has been discussed often in this House. Anybody looking at today's statistics would say we are going backwards rather than forwards with regard to driving tests. Over 135,000 people nationally are waiting for a test. It is shocking and intimidating to consider that 12,500 people are waiting for a test at the Churchtown centre alone.

Last week we reflected on how we are no longer involved in the partnership talks which have been taken out of the political equation. I hope the ongoing partnership talks will redress the farcical situation where 100 driving testers who belong to the IMPACT union resisted the Minister's attempt to outsource driving tests to a private body, which would have removed at least 40,000 people from the waiting list. In that situation, the partnership process seemed to support the union members and the Minister was not able to get his way. If we are out of the equation, I hope the current partnership talks ——