Officials from the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) attended the Oireachtas Transport Committee yesterday. Tipperary TD Michael Lowry says the current performance of the service is not professional and is sharply critical of the delays encountered by those applying for a driving test.
Brendan Walsh, Chief Operations Officer with the National Driver Licence Service attended the hearing but Deputy Lowry says it is ultimately the Road Safety Authority(RSA) that is responsible for what he called the “shambles” at both the NDLS and the NCT services. Deputy Lowry says someone needs to take responsibility and deliver effective change instead of promising improvement. The committee heard about young nurses, students and apprentices trying to get driving tests and facing delays. Deputy Lowry is also complaining that cases where he has sought Driving Tests for people on compassionate grounds are not being responded to promptly. The TD described the service as “incompetent.”
Additional testers started on September 18ths and the NDLS says more testers will be found with sanction granted by the Department of Transport for up to 75 more testers to be hired. Mr Walsh hopes that the service will have reduced the backlog by the middle of next year.
