It seems that the Irish Government wants to mark the Road Safety Authority (RSA)'s homework. Having told the RSA - an agency currently being broken up into separate parts following several high-profile failures to provide adequate measures on road safety - that it had to prepare a plan to bring down driving test waiting times, now that plan is supposed to be published.
Will that help, do you think?
Probably not. But hey, Minister for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports, Sean Canney has told the RSA that he wants the RSA to not only publish its plan, but 'deliver on it.' So that should sort everything out.
How bad are the driving test delays?
According to the Government's figures, the average wait for a driving test now stretches to 27 weeks. That's six months give or take, but in some testing centres the wait can be as long as ten months. According to the RSA, the agency has committed to Minister Canney that this will be reduced to 22 weeks by end May, to 18 weeks at end June and that the service will be returned to the target average wait of 10 weeks by early September at the latest.
How likely is that to happen?
Hmmmm. 50/50 maybe? The problem is, as we reported two weeks ago (see more here), the RSA and the Government seem intent on blaming the problem on, guess who? That's right, you. Or at least the you who booked a driving test but never showed up for it. Not, y'know, the system not having the right resources in the first place.
What resources are being added?
Well, late last year the Government approved up to 70 additional driving test examiner positions, and the Department of Transport now confirms that the 'first tranche' of those 'has been deployed into service' while additional testers will follow in the coming months.
Minister Canney has told the RSA that he wants them to: “publish their plan next week, showing their projections of average wait time and numbers of tests to be carried out on a fortnightly basis to end 2025. The Minister further instructed the RSA to report publicly and to him fortnightly on delivery of their plan, with any deviations from projected timelines to be immediately addressed with the Department of Transport.”
Speaking on the RSA plan, Minister Canney said: "The provision of a timely and efficient driver testing service is a key priority for me. The experience of learner drivers seeking a driver test over the last number of years has been unacceptable and the service being offered needs to be greatly improved as soon as possible. I welcome the RSA plan to bring wait times down to ten weeks by no later than early September and I expect the RSA to fully deliver on this commitment. There can be no deviation from this timeline and I have instructed the RSA to ensure contingency plans and remedial measures are in place and ready to deploy to ensure that no slippage occurs. I have also instructed the RSA to publish their plan, progress reports, projected wait times and driver tester numbers by centre to ensure that the public is fully informed of the progress being made.”
Will it work?
Ummmmm… come back to us in ten months, maybe?