John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will liaise with the Road Safety Authority on the issue of the appeals process for failing a driving test; if he will consider an alternative appeals process to the current arrangement of a District Court hearing; if he will clarify if there is an appeal process open to drivers in a situation where they are alleged to be late for a test and are not permitted to take a test; and if the procedure of appealing via a District Court hearing still applies in this instance. [16106/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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At present I do not have any proposals to amend the appeals procedure in relation to driving tests. 

The current appeals process, involving a hearing in the District Court, is set out in Section 33(5) of the Road Traffic Act 1961.  The legislation refers to an appeal following a decision under Section 33(4) of the Act, which in turn is a decision on granting or refusing a certificate of competence after a test.  For further clarity, Section 33(5) refers to challenges as to whether the test was ‘properly conducted’.  I understand that in a court case last year it was established that this meant that the appeal goes to the manner and procedure relating to the test carried out but not to the actual marks incurred on test.

 It is therefore clear from the law that this procedure does not deal with cases where a person is not permitted to take a test, whether for lateness or any other reason. 

 The Road Safety Authority (RSA) have an informal procedure when a candidate is 10 minutes or less late for the test, and if the driver tester believes that the test can be completed without inconveniencing the next candidate, the tester will use his/her discretion to bring out the late-arriving candidate.

 The RSA will come under the Ombudsman in May, and people wishing to object to proceedings relating to driver tests may at that point wish to raise the matter with the Ombudsman’s office.