The new authority charged with reducing the long waiting times learner drivers face for tests and improving motorists' skills is too limited in scope to bring about significant change, says a consultants' report.
It recommends centralising responsibility for all aspects of road safety, including vehicle and driver testing, enforcement, and road planning into a Road Safety Authority, which would also encompass the proposed Driver Testing and Standards Authority (DTSA).
Under legislation going through the Dáil now, the DTSA would be responsible for driver testing, licensing and instructor registration and oversight.
"We recommend that the Minister urgently consider establishing a new Road Safety Authority (RSA) rather than the envisaged Driver Testing and Standards Authority," says the report from consultants Farrell Grant Sparks which has been seen by Motors.
The Department of Transport commissioned the study on how the new agency could meet its objectives "with regard to Government policy on numbers within the public service."
The consultants say they were unable to complete the task because they didn't believe an authority based on such "a limited functional remit" will bring the degree of fundamental change needed to overcome current difficulties."
A key finding is the consultants' belief that an agency with a wider remit would offer a more focused approach to eliminating causes of road accidents.
A broader agency would also offer improved career development opportunities for the 117 testers and 54 management and administrative staff who face changes to work practice, the report says. It also recommended a performance-related pay structure to improve staff performance.
The report also found that the DTSA in its current form was unattractive to staff who are resisting surrendering their status as civil servants. Having driver testers directly employed and registered by the new authority was an "absolute prerequisite". The report said testing staff would be more likely to transfer to an agency offering wider career opportunities, such as the suggested RSA.
During a second stage Dáil debate on the DTSA Bill last March the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, indicated he would be willing to assign additional functions on road safety to the agency at committee stage.
According to the consultants because the new authority has not yet been established, an opportunity exists to change its remit by amending the Bill. This is a "critical consideration in the context of solving current problems", the consultants say.
Driver testers face changes to work practices to reduce waiting lists for tests. Provisional drivers wait 10 months on average and, in some parts of the country, up to 14 months for driving tests. In the North learners wait four weeks on average for tests.
The report recommends an end to rotating testers between centres and better use of daylight hours in the winter during evenings and weekends.
It recommends also clearing the current driving-test backlog through a combination of overtime and outside contractors before any staff are transferred to any new agency.
Regardless of whether Mr Cullen restructures the DTSA, the cost of taking a test is to rise from the €38 it now costs car or motorcycle drivers.
Making the testing regime self-financing is another key component of the report. Any new agency must have an "economic charging regime which, at a minimum, would cover costs". The DTSA is loss making and has been since 1998. The report recommends linking the price to inflation.
On cost grounds, it says, the number of testing centres should be reduced from 54 to about 35. Under this plan each county would have a testing centre with larger towns and cities having additional sites. Of these, 16 would be able to cater for HGV and motorcycle tests.
The report also found that the 16-year-old computer system used to organise driver tests is completely outdated and "contains a high risk of system failure".
