Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Transport the projected demand for driving tests in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the basis for his calculation; the projected supply of driving tests in the same period with a breakdown by source; and the way in which he proposes to reduce average waiting periods to below six weeks. [30058/06]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Transport if progress has been made on resolving the driving test backlog. [29879/06]

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will give a status report on progress to end the backlog of those awaiting a driving test. [29715/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 38, 53 and 56 together.

It is my objective to eliminate the backlog of driving tests by mid-2007. That means having a waiting list of no more than about 50,000 that can be scheduled in a 10 to 12 week period. The Road Safety Authority now has responsibility for the delivery of driving tests and will be working towards this objective.

The measures I have put in place to achieve this objective are: the redeployment of seven civil servants from the Department of Agriculture and Food as driver testers in April this year giving an annual additional capacity of about 10,000 tests; the recruitment of eleven driver testers on 2-year contracts who will provide additional capacity of about 15,000 tests in a full year; the introduction of a bonus scheme for driver testers from February, 2006 which has the potential to deliver up to 40,000 driving tests; and the outsourcing of a block of 40,000 tests to an outside agency which can be extended to 45,000 tests if necessary.

SGS Ltd., the company contracted to conduct driving tests, commenced issuing driving test appointment letters to test candidates during the week commencing 11 September. SGS Ltd. will begin conducting driving tests during the week commencing 23 October.

I expect to see a marked reduction in the waiting list by the end of this year. I also expect that the Road Safety Authority to formally review the position, taking account of all the above measures and take any action necessary to ensure a reduction in the waiting times in line with my objective.

In relation to demand forecasting a statistical forecasting model for driving test applications from 2000 to 2006 has been in use. Applications received were within range for the years up to 2003. In 2003, applications rose to a record level for a short period. It is this spike in applications that has caused the backlog in the testing system. Since then applications have returned to within predicted range. The Road Safety Authority will be preparing demand forecasts into the future.