John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

From listening to the Minister and the Senators, there is clearly a problem. The waiting times are not acceptable. As the Minister noted, ten weeks is the objective. It must be addressed urgently. I understand that a theory test can be had within ten days. I do not know the reason for this. There is obviously more people applying for tests but it does not explain the whole bottleneck.

From speaking to the RSA, the Department and so on, I understand there can be a cohort of up to 29% of people who do not show up for their tests, which is a major issue. The Minister mentioned that the test centres now telephone people to check that they are coming. It is hugely important. On a positive note, I am aware of someone who needed an emergency test because they had got a job and they needed a car. That person got the test within a few weeks but people should not have to depend on that kind of queue jumping or no-show tests. I was told that sometimes when people show up for their test, it cannot take place because the person does not have his or her driving licence, or insurance, the car is not taxed or it does not have a valid NCT certificate. On one occasion someone turned up for a driving test without a car. It is necessary to sort all those issues. I welcome Senator Boyhan's promise to stay on the case and I support him on it. It is in the Minister's interest that this be sorted. A waiting time of ten weeks, which is two and a half months, is better than the situation as it is now but it should be better than that again.