Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Transport the discussions he has had with the driving instructor sector to inform them of his plans for the regulation of that sector. [3118/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Proposals developed by my Department for the regulation and quality assurance of driving instruction will involve a test of the competence of individual instructors. A working group comprising representatives of my Department and of instruction interests has formulated the design of the standards that a driving instructor must meet. The standard will set out criteria for entry to the driving instructor profession and the three-part exam comprising a written exam, a practical driving test and a test of instructional capability that instructors will have to pass in order to be registered.

Responsibility for implementing the standard of driving instruction and establishing a register of driving instructors will be with the proposed Road Safety Authority. I am considering what arrangements will be put in place to oversee implementation of the standard in the context of the establishment of the authority. As part of this process the standard referred to above will form the basis for a consultation document to be issued in the next few months, which will set out the requirements that driving instructors will have to comply with in order to be registered.