Concerns at driving test standards

A new report on driving tests by the Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley has raised concern about the level of consistency at testing centres across the State.

Mr Buckley found that learner drivers were considerably less likely to pass their test when graded by a Road Safety Authority (RSA) tester by a contracted tester, hundreds of which were drafted in to tackle lengthy waiting lists.

The national average pass rate for RSA testers was 49 per cent compared to 62 per cent for external contractors.

The report said pass rates during 2008 ranged from 39 per cent to 60 per cent at RSA centres and between 51 per cent and 77 per cent in centres where tests were administered by contracted testers.

Mr Buckley said the challenge now “is to maintain a service that conducts a professional independent testing of drivers in each individual case, while at the same time pursuing consistency in testing applicants”.

The report also found that the RSA had succeeded in significantly reducing waiting lists and waiting times for driving tests.

Mr Buckley said the waiting time was now very close to the RSA’s target of 10 weeks at all centres. “By the end of 2008, average waiting time had fallen to 8.6 weeks and the longest a candidate had been waiting was eleven weeks at that time.”

The report states that the Exchequer had to significantly subsidise driving tests in 2008. It cost €42 million to stage 470,000 tests that year, an average of €88, but only €18.2 million was generated in associated revenue. The driving test fee has since been increased from €38 to €75.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said he was encouraged by the C&AG report and would carefully consider its findings and recommendations.

“The special report found that the RSA had radically improved the timeliness of the provision of tests,” he said in a statement. “The achievement and maintenance of a national average of a maximum 10-week wait for a driving test has been a key objective of mine and the RSA have worked hard to deliver that service level.”

Mr Dempsey said the study raised important issues over contracts for outsourcing services, costing systems, demand forecasting and tester productivity and consistency. “I have, however, been encouraged by the various improvements to their systems that have been implemented by the RSA since the emergence of these issues."