Driving test applications more than halved during the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2008, writes DAVID LABANYI
A combination of the economic downturn and the fall-off in public panic caused by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey’s decision in October 2007 to ban all second provisional licence holders from the roads contributed to the drop in applicants.
The plan resulted in a spike in applications from drivers on a second provisional seeking a test before the June 2008 deadline.
During the first four months of 2009 there were 55,475 driving test applications, compared with 120,898 for the same period in 2008, a 55 per cent drop. The equivalent figure for 2007 was 71,515.
Applications for the driver theory test, which a learner must pass before starting lessons on the road, have also reduced, from 62,967 in 2007 to 54,977 last year and 47,587 between January and April this year.
The sharp drop prompted the Road Safety Authority to end its contract with SGS Ireland, which was to conduct up to 70,000 driving tests this year.
SGS Ireland offered tests around the country and the additional capacity it provided was a key component in the removal of the backlog of 400,000 applications that pushed waiting times over a year.
Mr Dempsey has set a target of a maximum waiting time of 10 weeks for a driving test and, according to the most recent figures available, from March, the national average was 9.5 weeks.
While the sharp fall in applications has removed the need for a private company, it has also led to a steep reduction in the revenue generated by the RSA from operating driving tests.
The cost of a test almost doubled in April’s Budget, from €38 to €75, although this process started before demand fell and was not, according to the RSA, a response to falling revenue.
The RSA says even the revised cost remains below the full economic cost of €120 and said at the old rate the provision of tests was being subsidised by around €22 million per year.
Another consequence of falling demand is that the overtime available to RSA driver testers is expected to see a sharp drop.
At the start of the year the RSA went to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to secure the option of privatised driving tests for 2009, in the face of strong opposition from unions representing testers and staff employed by the State.
As part of this agreement, the RSA committed to providing around 35,000 overtime tests for RSA staff this year and increased the overtime rate for tests to €39.