A Co Cavan Senator is calling for the establishment of another driving test centre for Cavan and for the RSA to answer for the "inexcusable delays."
Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly believes that the livelihoods and futures of people in Cavan are being jeopardised as a result of Government's "ongoing inability" to get to grips with the ever-lengthening driving waiting times.
The Aontú representative says the crux of the problem is the lack of permanent driving instructors to meet the rising demand.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Senator O'Reilly says the RSA must answer for the measures they are implementing to reduce the backlog and provide a clear timeline for deploying additional testers. She also highlighted the "urgent need" for another test centre to be established in Cavan to ease the burden on the current system.
Senator O'Reilly also recounted the story of a young driver who is "desperate to be called for a test as he simply cannot continue trying to manage a 30 KM round trip each day trying to get to work and college. She told Northern Sound: "Learner drivers like him just can't find a way to get around in rural Ireland, it's not like they can hop on a Dart or jump on a regular bus. They are stranded - literally. For those dependent on personal transport to get to college and work, the delays are more than just an inconvenience-they're completely disruptive. This young man from my constituency applied for his test in early January of this year and is still stuck on an indefinite waiting list some 18 weeks later.
"He has been exhausting every possible favour from friends and family just to comply with the law, according to him he has everyone around him 'tortured to accompany him in his car and dig him out' but it simply cannot go on. He contacted me in a very distressed state, and he is worried about being able to sustain his job which in turn helps sustain him in college so it's a vicious circle for him. He pleaded for my help, and I put in a PQ to get information regarding waiting times of each test centre in Ireland to see if there was any centre near to Cavan with a lower wait time. I called the NDLS and I got the usual automated phone system telling me to press 1 for this ,press 2 for that. I found it extremely difficult to get through to an actual human which I found very frustrating."
