Hundreds of thousands of provisional driving licence-holders will not be barred from driving alone from January 1st, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, has clarified.
Despite fears that the ban would come into force immediately in the new year, the Minister said yesterday: "Nobody will be taken off the road from the 1st of January, so relax about that."
Instead, the Department of Transport will investigate the 300,000 licences held by provisional drivers to determine how many of them are held by first, second and third-time provisional licence-holders.
The future of the provisional licence has becoming a growing political issue for Fianna Fáil TDs, in particular, over recent days, amidst motorists' fears that they could be left without transport.
In a briefing note for Fianna Fáil TDs, the Minister said: "Short-term transitional arrangements will be put in place for existing provisional licence-holders and the details will be announced in the new year."
Later, the Minister explained: "I am just laying out where I want to get to, hopefully, by the end of next year. In the meantime, we will work out some transitional arrangements so I don't want anyone to panic out there."
During an interview with Clare FM, he said he was trying to target long-term provisional licence-holders. "The present system can't go on the way that it is going and I am determined to change it."
If some people believed they could drive on a provisional licence "for 15 or 20 years", there is no encouragement to drivers who "work hard, do their instruction, do their lessons and their test". Under the current law, first and third-time licence holders are barred from driving unaccompanied, though second-time licence holders are entitled to do.
However, the reality is that the law is broken daily.
The Minister intends to introduce legislation on a phased basis throughout 2003 to curb the number of licences for which a driver can apply, and limiting the number of years for which an individual licence can be held.
From January 1st, all drivers must carry their licences in the car with them. Following a period of grace of a few months, they will face penalty points if they fail to produce the licence when requested to do so by the gardaí.
In the Dáil on Wednesday, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern said the Driving Test Agency Bill - to be published late next year - will place responsibility for all such tests under the control of an independent body.
Only 52 per cent of drivers pass first time. "You could argue that a lot of people need to do some more training before they actually face up to it because the pass rate should, in theory, be substantially higher," Mr Brennan said. The existing driver testing service had "a great record" of facilitating drivers who needed a test quickly. "It's not a matter of how long you have to wait until your test, it's how ready you are for it."
Meanwhile, it emerged the Minister intends to hold talks in the new year with the various organisations representing driving schools.
"There has never been one organisation representing such schools," a spokesman for the Minister told The Irish Times.
