Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome back to this House. I congratulate him on his appointment. This is my first time standing before him in the Chamber since his promotion. I am sure he will bring his skills and talent to the position.It is really important that we are having this discussion. All our communities and families have, unfortunately, been hit by road fatalities and serious injuries. Road safety is of the utmost importance to every community.

I wish to raise a specific issue around driving test centres. I live in north County Dublin, which has the fastest growing population in the country. Many young people living there want to qualify as drivers but are unable to access a local driving centre. There was a driving test centre in Drogheda, but that has recently closed. The main centre people go to is in Finglas. For people living in Balbriggan or Skerries, though, that is a significant distance to travel. If someone is engaging with a local driving instructor and perhaps paying for a two-hour lesson, that instructor would have to meet them in Balbriggan, drive their car to Finglas - because learner drivers cannot go on the motorway - to drive the route they might take during their test, and then drive back to Balbriggan. All that would have to happen in the space of two hours. The result is that most of that two-hour lesson is taken up going to and from the testing area. People then have to get twice the number of lessons they would normally have to get. It is extremely inconvenient. We need to be making it more convenient for people to pass their tests and not adding further expense and hassle.

The waiting times in the test centres across Dublin are phenomenal. There are several such test centres around Dublin but there are extremely significant waiting times. Young people in north County Dublin not only have to wait a considerable time but are also paying extra for their driving lessons because they are taking more of them. It is completely inconvenient for people to do what they should be doing, namely, get driving lessons, qualify as a driver and be responsible drivers on the roads thereafter.

I would like the Department to engage with the Road Safety Authority to open a driving test centre in north County Dublin. There are many suitable locations. Balbriggan would be a good town. It is busy and there are lots of roundabouts and other challenging features would provide several good routes for driving tests. It would also serve the people of Drogheda, who have lost their test centre in recent months. It would be a very positive step forward for road safety in the area. We should be removing barriers obstructing people and making it more accessible for them to do the right thing, qualify and be responsible road users. If they start out in a good pattern of behaviour, it is more likely they will stay in that good pattern for their driving careers. I would like the Minister of State, therefore, to consider the possibility of opening a driving test centre in north County Dublin to provide a safe, accessible and barrier-free driving test centre for people living in Balbriggan, Skerries, Lusk, Rush and beyond. The population is there. It is an outrage we do not have a local driving test centre.