Call for goodwill gesture on driving test backlog
A one-off gesture of goodwill was urged today to allow the outsourcing of the State’s growing driving test backlog.
Macra na Feirme, the national organisation representing rural young people, has called on IMPACT to let the Minister for Transport proceed with his plans to temporarily hand over testing to private companies.
Clearing the backlog of provisional drivers waiting for tests should be a priority in terms of improving road safety, according to national president Colm Markey.
He called on IMPACT to “look beyond” the outsourcing issue and “make a once-off gesture of goodwill”.
“The bottom line is that there are over 400,000 unqualified drivers on our roads, with 130,000 of these on the waiting list,” he said. “It is difficult to see how this situation can improve unless some of these tests are outsourced to private companies.”
Last month the Labour Court ruled that Government plans to outsource driving tests violated the Sustaining Progress Agreement as IMPACT (the trade union representing driving testers) had objected to the core work of civil servants being outsourced.
“This is a huge issue for those on the driving test waiting list and indeed in terms of road safety,” said Mr Markey.
“If IMPACT were to agree to the outsourcing of driving tests for a limited period only – and without the possibility of a precedent being set – it could make all the difference.
“Following the Labour Court decision, the unions have established the principles regarding outsourcing and this would be not undermined by a once-off gesture.”
