Next week's changes to the driving test should have gone further and should have included the changing of a tyre, according to driving instructors.
One politician described the changes as "farcical tinkering at the edges".
From Monday, candidates sitting a driving test will be asked to explain how technical checks on tyres, lights, engine oil, coolant and other car parts should be carried out.
Candidates will be asked about three of a possible 10 items and will have to be able to open the bonnet to identify how certain checks are carried out.
The Irish School of Motoring (ISM), the State's oldest and largest driving school, has questioned some of the changes.
Mr Karl Walsh, ISM general manager, said it was "quite bizarre" that the test did not include questions on the changing of a tyre. While candidates could be asked about tyre thread depth, they would not be required to show that they knew how to change a tyre.
Mr Walsh said motorists might never have to look under a bonnet but most people would be faced with a puncture at some stage in their lives.
While it might not be practical to include the actual changing of a tyre in the test, candidates should be asked to explain how they would do it, he said.
Mr Walsh said Ireland's driving test was one of the least thorough in Europe. Drivers were not asked to perform an emergency braking; to parallel park; to drive on a motorway or to show their aptitude for night-time driving.
Fine Gael's spokeswoman on transport, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said it was "daft" that more elements were being added to the driving test when candidates already faced massive delays to sit the test.
The delays meant that some candidates were waiting up to a year for a test. If the extra elements meant that one less test could be conducted every day, then the waiting list would continue to go out of control, she said.
The PD spokesman on transport, Senator Tom Morrissey, said the changes were cosmetic and farcical.
"Tinkering with the system will not cut road deaths," he said. "Testing drivers to check under the bonnet of their cars, or change the oil will not improve driver behaviour. We need real and substantial changes to the current test."