Ireland's driving test appointment service needs to be radically overhauled to reduce the number of provisional licence holders who fail to turn up for their test. Last year, almost 17,000 people never showed for their appointed tests.
According to Experian, a manufacturer of information technology systems, the way the current driving test appointment system is maintained means many of the thousands of no-shows are down to the system sending their appointments to previous addresses.
Experian's Lorcan Lynch suggests as many as 400 driver test notifications are being posted to incorrect addresses every week. This means many applicants never receive their driving test date and therefore do not show up at the appointed time. In addition, because they never receive the notification, they do not cancel their appointment meaning their test cannot be passed on to another applicant.
However, a Department of Transport spokeswoman explained that the onus is on an applicant to inform it of a change of address. "When someone applies for a driving test, they should inform us if they move house, we will then update our database immediately," she said. "If we look at the cost from a consumer's view, there were almost 17,000 people last year who could have sat a test had we been informed earlier of the cancellations."
Lynch said the financial cost of cancellations is over €1 million each year. He feels a system such as that offered by Experian for under €700 per week, which sources information from An Post's change of address service, as well as a daily record of returned mail to organisations such as major banks and direct mail companies, would offer value for money to the Department.