Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Susan O'Keeffe for raising this important issue. The new national driver licensing service is a matter of widespread public interest and I am happy to have a chance to discuss it. We should first be clear about the facts of what has changed in the area of driver licensing during the past year. Before January 2013, driver licences were issued by the motor taxation offices of the local authorities. This involved over 30 different motor tax offices, all providing staff and resources to the processing of driver licence applications and the issuing of licences. Effectively, there were over 30 different licensing authorities.

The EU requirement to introduce a plastic card driving licence from January 2013 meant that there would be significant changes in the way licences were produced, and this provided an opportunity to review the entire system for driver licensing. Following from a study which examined the alternative ways driver licensing might be organised, the Government decided in May 2011 to move to a centralised national driver licensing service. At the same time, the Government decided that the Road Safety Authority would be given charge of this service. Centralising the service offers a number of benefits over the old system, and it ensures greater consistency of practice and service across the country and will be more efficient and cost-effective. The creation of a single service also provides for greater security and, under the RSA, offers a one-stop-shop to the public, from theory test to driving test to licence issue.

The new system, designed by the RSA, involves three outsourced elements, overseen by a specialist unit based in the RSA headquarters in Ballina. The three outsourced elements are a card production facility, a front office for engaging with customers and a back office to process applications. Contracts were awarded by the RSA for all three services following competitive procurement processes. The contract process was a matter for the RSA and neither the Minister nor the Department had any role in it. As an open competitive process, any interested party was entitled to submit a tender for consideration.

Last January, the RSA formally became the national driver licensing authority. Between 19 January and 25 October of this year, there was a transitional arrangement under which the local authorities continued to provide customer services relating to driver licences on behalf of the RSA. On 29 October, the RSA assumed full responsibility for the service. Under the front office contract, provided by SGS Ireland Limited, customer services are offered at 34 full-time centres and two part-time centres around the country. They are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. They also remain open through lunchtimes. These opening hours are more flexible than those previously available and will make it easier for customers to visit at a time convenient to them.

Furthermore, people will be able to use any of the offices to apply for a renewal of their licence rather than, as under the previous system, only the centre in their own local authority. The new network provides a service within a 50 km distance of 95% of the population. There were some teething issues with the launch of the new service on Tuesday 29 October, which the RSA has advised me have now been substantially resolved. The main difficulties were delays for customers in some NDLS centres, the customer helpline being out of service for part of the first day, and an IT problem at 12 of the 34 centres on the morning of the first day. These problems were in part caused by a high level of demand. A number of solutions have been put in place by the RSA to address the earlier difficulties experienced. These include the assignment of additional staff, the roll-out of a further information campaign and the deployment of a manual booking system of which applicants can avail. In the course of the past few days, the NDLS has operated a manual booking system to manage queues on the ground and that has helped to reduce queues across the network. Additional staff have been and will continue to be assigned on the ground to ensure that customers do not have unduly long waits.

Furthermore, the RSA has indicated to me that it is working with the front office contractor to develop an online booking system to be deployed within a month. I understand that, in light of the volume of demand at various front office locations, it has been proposed that the booking system will be deployed across all of its offices. I also understand that provision will be made for emergency situations by reserving some capacity for customers who need a licence at short notice.

The reason people are required to attend in person to have their photograph taken is that the new system is designed to be compliant with level 2 of the standard authentication framework environment, SAFE 2, developed by the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Social Protection. SAFE 2 is a protocol for ID verification designed to improve security for ID, and is also used for the Department of Social Protection's public service card. Among other safeguards, it requires people to attend in person so that their image is captured as part of the verification of their identity. That is an important measure to prevent fraud. It is important to also state that the requirement to attend in person occurs only once, when the person receives his or her first credit-card-style driver's licence under the new system. After attending once in person, people can renew their licences through the post and are not required to attend the centres in person again when their licence needs to be renewed or updated.

The move to a centralised driver licensing service is the right one in the long term and will provide a better service to the public as well as greater security and better value for money. While there have been teething troubles with the new system, they are being dealt with quickly and effectively by the RSA.