Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have a note on that I would like to give, for the information of the House. It is just to have clarity on it. Members will be aware the Road Safety Authority, RSA, is responsible for the delivery of the driving test. This was the original core purpose of the authority, which was originally to be called the driver testing and standards authority. When first published as a Bill, the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 was called the Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill. Recent discussions with the Attorney General indicated there was some obscurity in the legislation about the role of the RSA in delivering the driving test. On the advice of the then Attorney General, we agreed late last year to introduce an amendment to remove any obscurity in the law and reaffirm the role of the RSA in delivering the driving test.

Section 33 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 deals with certificates of competency, which are the certificates issued when a person passes a driving test. Under section 33, the Minister may by regulations designate a body as the issuing authority for the purposes of certificates of competency and it is then the responsibility of the issuing authority to test applicants for a certificate or to call them to be tested. We are here amending section 33 by introducing three new subsections. These will become sections 33(1)(1A), 33(1)(1B) and 33(1)(1C). The new section 33(1)(1A) clarifies the RSA is the issuing authority and has been since 1 January 2007, which is when the RSA took over the delivery of the service. The new section 33(1)(1B) confirms functions under section 33(4), which are essentially functions of issuing or refusing certificates following tests, are deemed to have been carried out by persons appointed by the RSA to carry out the tests. This is to remove any doubt about the status or RSA testers. Section 33(1)(1C) is a standard formulation so that in the case where the operation of sections 33(1)(1A) or 33(1)(1B) might conflict with the person's rights, these subsections still operate so as not to conflict with those rights but otherwise be of full effect.

It is largely technical in nature, a Chathaoirligh, but I was keen to explain it in detail.