Waiting times for driving tests are set to lengthen considerably as a result of initiatives aimed at ending anomalies in the system of "provisionally" licensing drivers. There are fears that some people may have to wait for up to a year or more for a test.
The provisional licence system - which allows some drivers who fail tests to drive unaccompaniedaway from the testing centre - has been targeted for reform by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.
Mr Brennan said yesterday that holders of provisional licences will have to pass the test within a certain time or get off the road. The current practice of allowing learner drivers on second provisional licences to drive unaccompanied by a qualified driver is to be ended.
However,the Department of Transport acknowledged later that there had been "an 80 per cent increase in the number of applications for driving tests" in the five-week period since the Minister announced his intention to reform the driving licence regulations. A huge number of applications are believed to have come from the 300,000 holders of current provisional licences.
With just 117 licence testers in the State, to clear the full backlog would involve each tester with about an additional 2,500 applicants - even allowing for the deployment of 10 additional senior testers on the Department's books.
Assuming each tester works a 39 hour week - without breaks - it would take more than 60 weeks to get through the backlog.
The current average waiting time for a test is 10 weeks. But with current staffing levels, it appears that some people might have to wait for a year or more for their test.
On a visit to the Department of the Environment offices in Ballinayesterday, Mr Brennan said evidence showed that drivers on provisional licences were up to 50 times more likely to have accidents than people who had passed their tests.
Benefits would accrue to motorists from the new system, he promised. Insurers had told him that costs would be reduced for those who had got the test and held clean licences.
The Minister promised transition arrangements in the lead-up to the new system for those who currently hold provisional driving licences, because he didn't want the system clogged up with hundreds of thousands seeking a driving test on the following day.
The Department plans a limited number of provisional licences and only for a small number of years. Mr Brennan said: "At that stage the provisional licence holder will have to do the test and pass it or be off the road."
The Minister said the current situation would be changed "in a matter of months". A spokesman for the Department of Transport said no timetable for implementation had yet been decided.
"The Minister has just said he wants these anomalies to end; he now has to build on that."