Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, for choosing this Commencement matter. I thank the Minister of State for taking time from his busy schedule. He is welcome back to the Upper House.

I am sure that, like me, the Minister of State remembers sitting his driving test. Research over the years shows that people find sitting their driving test harder than State exams or college exams. They are rolling a practical test and a theory test into one and the period of time that the tester is in the car with a person can be very stressful. It always was and still is a compulsory rite of passage. It is a movement onwards in life because passing the test opens doors in education and employment. As I said, it is a compulsory rite of passage.

At present, there are almost 379,000 learner drivers, which is an increase of 63% since 2019. Obviously, many of these have not applied for a test or are not ready for a test, but that will be coming down the line and many have applied for tests. In 2019, the waiting time for a driving test was six weeks but what is considered a normal waiting time is now 24 weeks, so we have gone from six weeks to six months. The pandemic was blamed for this for a while but, to be fair, everything else in life has caught up. The effects of the pandemic have been erased from many parts of life and so it should be for this too. It is not enough of an excuse or reason for these long waiting lists.

There is a rule that learner drivers cannot drive by themselves. I fully agree with this rule but it is extremely hard for families to ensure that a parent or older sibling who has a full driving licence is in the car with these young people. It is just not acceptable to be waiting so long. Many are waiting so long that their 12 lessons have gone out of their head by the time they are called for their test. It is adding much unnecessary pressure.

A revamp of the whole system is needed. People are reporting that it is hard to log on to book a test and impossible to get someone on the phone to change a test. I know there are a lot of no-shows and perhaps there should be a stronger clampdown on the no-shows. Perhaps we need a system whereby if someone gives notice of a cancellation, a waiting list kicks in straight away. That is not happening at the moment. We have a wonderful young generation. At the moment, it is like a bird whose wings have been cut. This is holding back that generation. Many people and councillors have been on to me because their constituents have been on to them. This is a serious matter. It is not rocket science and could be sorted easily. It is holding young people back from accessing education and employment. Some people are hoping to move abroad for a few years and need their driving test so they can bring a licence with them. Many people are having to refuse employment because they do not have a full driving licence. It is quite a serious matter.