A rise in the numbers of non-nationals and young drivers applying for driving tests has contributed to an increase of 25,000 in the number of provisional licence-holders, the Department of Transport has said.
A total of 404,607 provisional licence-holders were on the road at the end of last December, according to Department of Transport figures. This represents an increase of almost 25,000 on 2004.
While the number waiting for driving tests was "significant", the department said that the average waiting time had stabilised during the past year at about 40 weeks. However, the number of people driving without having passed a test continued to increase.
"There are a number of factors contributing to this. There are more cars on the roads each year . . . People are driving at a younger age and the number of people who are coming here from abroad and want to drive has increased," a department source said.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen was very aware of the need for more tests, a spokesman said, and would announce measures to tackle the backlog today. Chief among these is a scheme to enlist new testers from staff at the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Cullen had originally planned to outsource some testing to a private company. However, this was blocked by the testers' union, Impact. Recruiting agriculture staff, who have been interviewed for driving tester positions over the last few weeks, represents a compromise, and it is understood that 25 additional staff will be added to the existing tester ranks of 113.
Mr Cullen hopes that this measure, along with an overtime bonus scheme, will enable an additional 80,000 tests to be conducted annually.
Driving test waiting times rose dramatically at the end of 2002 when the then minister, Seamus Brennan, announced he intended to end the practice of allowing provisional licence-holders to drive unaccompanied.
Waiting times initially jumped from under 11 weeks to more than six months. By the end of 2003 the backlog had reached a high of more than a year in many parts of the State.
