A new authority to reduce the "stubbornly high" waiting times for driving tests will be established under legislation introduced in the Dáil, writes Marie O'Halloran.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Cullen, said the authority would be a "crucial step in improving the delivery of the driving test service in the face of a continuing and unprecedented high level of demand".
The Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill is also aimed at improving driving standards. It was introduced as the European Commission decided to take the Government to court over driving test standards, because of the failure to implement a European directive aimed at ensuring similar minimum standards in all EU states.
Mr Cullen said, however, that he would shortly sign regulations to transpose the directive into Irish law, and he added that some of the changes would not apply for up to nine years.
The Driver Testing and Standards Authority, to be located in Ballina, Co Mayo, will have the task of dealing with the "unprecedented rise in demand" and backlog of 121,000 applicants who are waiting an average of 31 weeks for their test, according to the Minister. He also said, however, that the "average longest waiting time is 38 weeks".
This year a total of 175,000 driving test applications are expected.
The current waiting time problem started last year over concerns about stricter regulation in the use and renewal of provisional licences. As a result, applications rose to 233,889, an increase of 22 per cent on the record established the previous year, when there were 192,016 applications, according to the Minister.
Currently, provisional drivers make up 17 per cent of all drivers and the Minister said he was "determined to reduce this proportion significantly".
Advertising will be placed soon to recruit a chief executive for the authority, which will also have responsibility for the registration of driving instructors.
"Prospective instructors will have to demonstrate that they have appropriate instructional skills in addition to demonstrating their competencies insofar as driving skills are concerned". Mr Cullen stressed his belief that to ensure "an appropriate standard of instruction applies throughout the country, all instructors must demonstrate they have reached the required standard".
The establishment of the authority arose from a "Value for Money" report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which found the driver testing service was not cost effective and not sufficiently flexible to meet changing demand patterns.
The authority is expected to be self-financing, with running costs of €11 million annually.