As Irish driving test candidates prepare for an average 42-week wait for a test, there is outcry in Britain over what is being deemed the "excessive" eight-week wait there. Ian Noctor reports.
Irish test candidates are waiting nearly five times as long as their British counterparts for a date.
Official figures put the average British delay at 8.7 weeks, while latest figures from the Department of Transport's drivingtest.ie website put the Irish time at 42.2 weeks.
Now the British School of Motoring (BSM), one of the biggest instructing schools in the country, has launched a campaign to highlight what it terms "the current excessive waiting times for driving tests".
BSM wants action, pointing out that "a massive 45 per cent of applicants are over the six-week target" set by Britain's Driving Standards Agency. That target has suffered serious setbacks in recent times due to an examiners' strike and a work-to rule, which have led to the cancellation of hundreds of tests.
The head of the Irish School of Motoring (ISM), John Walsh, describes the Irish waiting time as "laughable", but suggests two ways to cut the delay to the levels enjoyed in Britain. "One way is to double the number of testers from the current 130. That would half the waiting time overnight.
"The second way is to adopt the model used in France, Germany and many other EU countries - candidates must prove they have taken at least 10 hours training before the test. That would weed out people who turn up completely unprepared. It would also reduce the number of novices re-sitting the test, which is a huge pressure."
Only Athlone, Co Westmeath, can offer a waiting time comparable to Britain's eight weeks. Elsewhere the picture is less reassuring - applicants in Naas wait an average of 60 weeks, while 59 weeks is the average in Dungarvan, Tallaght, Thurles, Tipperary and Waterford.
Addressing the Dáil Public Accounts Committee recently, the Secretary General of the Department of Transport, Julie O'Neill, conceded that the increase in the average time was a cause of concern. "We have looked at measures to try to reduce the backlog. We have brought in eight retired testers and have introduced a bonus scheme for testers to try to raise the number of completed tests."
However, O'Neill acknowledged that the number of testers who took up the bonus scheme has been very small - the scheme is to be revisited this year to make it more attractive. It's understood that just eight testers across the country have availed of the overtime scheme.
Low pay rates being offered are suggested as one of the reasons for the low interest among retired testers.
Ms O'Neill says the Department believes the surge in the numbers applying for the driving test - from 180,000 in 2001 to 234,000 in 2003 - is the result of the introduction of the penalty points system, greater awareness of road safety and concerns about possible changes on provisional licences.
The Department's drivingtest.ie website also publishes the latest figures on the average pass rate in the driving test - now at 55.1 per cent. The highest success rate is in Buncrana where 66.9 per cent pass. Ennis and Shannon are not far behind on 66.6 and 66.1 per cent. The poorest rate is 48.5 per cent in Nenagh and Tipperary town, while in Rathgar, Dublin, 48.9 per cent passed the test in the year to August 2003, the most recent statistics available.