Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am shocked and surprised by what the Minister of State has said. I am looking at a transcript for February 2017. One might as well have cut and paste his sentences into the document. It contains exactly the same sentences, commas and everything, which is really interesting. I would like the Minister of State to take a look at the matter. I will take the trouble to send the segment to the Minister today.

I do not agree with the sentence uttered by the Minister of State to the effect that "Driving tests are delivered across 52 test centres". I told him that and he would know that in any event. He also said that the current national average waiting time for a driving test is 14 weeks. I can tell him that this is not the case. I received a letter two weeks ago from the RSA. In that context, I reiterate that the waiting time in Buncrana is 19 weeks, in Donegal it is 24 weeks and in Letterkenny it is 21 weeks. Nowhere in the more than 50 centres does the waiting time meet the target of 20 weeks. No centre comes anywhere near that target. Let me continue with the list of waiting times, which are: Athlone, 21 weeks; Buncrana, 24 weeks, Carrick-on-Shannon, 21 weeks; Clonmel, 26 weeks and so on. None of the centres is delivering. I am shocked that the Minister of State has come in here and said that the Minister is satisfied.

In his final sentence, the Minister of State said that the RSA accepts that waiting times are too long. I suggest that the waiting times are far too long. Local representatives throughout this country have consistently contacted my office in the past 12 months to say that they have met people on a daily basis who cannot get appointments for tests. The situation is grossly unfair. I do not know where the Government's commitment to support people in rural communities who want to access jobs has gone.