Waiting lists for driving tests are expected to increase substantially if the State's 101 driving testers go ahead with industrial action next Friday. The Department of the Environment and Local Government says it is seeking an urgent meeting with the testers' union IMPACT in an attempt to avert the action.
A spokesman for the Department confirmed that notice of the testers' intention to work to rule from Friday morning was received last Monday. The action will see a ban on overtime (currently Saturday testing is regarded as overtime).
Testers will also refuse to test applicants who turn up late, cancel a test if the preceding one runs over time, withdraw flexibility which allows a tester to stand in for a colleague if he or she is unavoidably absent, and refuse to acknowledge changes in their testing schedule if communicated by telephone when a customer cancels a test.
A spokeswoman for IMPACT said the action had been prompted by the lack of consultation with testers by an independent review body appointed by the Department. This body is expected to recommend privatisation of the service.
The Minister of State at the department, Mr Robert Molloy, announced the review last month following what he called "fair and challenging questions" raised about the service by a Comptroller and Auditor General report.
That report found, among other things, that the Department was not meeting its productivity target levels from testers and that it over-relied on overtime.
It is understood there are a number of other grievances the testers want addressed, including the non-regulation of driving schools and poor facilities in some testing centres. Some 90,000 people are waiting an average of 29 weeks for a test.
