The major reforms planned for the driving licence system are in doubt after trade unions successfully challenged the outsourcing of driving tests to a private company.
The Government is examining the decision by the Civil Service Arbitration Board on the outsourcing of driving tests to see whether it has implications for initiatives in other departments.
The board, which arbitrates on disputes between the Government and Civil Service unions, was asked to adjudicate on a dispute over plans to outsource 40,000 driving tests to a private company as part of an effort to reduce waiting times.
Figures supplied to The Irish Times show the number of people driving with provisional licences exceeded 400,000 for the first time last year. The Department of Transport figures for December show the number of drivers on provisional licences reached 404,000, a 14 per cent increase in two years.
Some 130,000 people are on waiting lists for driving tests, with queues as long as 47 weeks for some test centres. Some 137,000 tests were carried out in 2005.
The unions, including Impact and the CPSU, argued that outsourcing of core Civil Service jobs was not permissible under the current partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress. In yesterday's decision, the arbitration board found that driver testing was core Civil Service work, and that it could not be outsourced unless there was agreement with the trade unions.
Senior civil servants involved in partnership discussions were last night considering the consequences the ruling may have for other projects.
The arbitration report warned that the continued driving test backlog "represents a potential threat to road safety" and that a "proper and expeditious solution" should be found to the problem by agreement. Impact said the implementation of a range of measures, some of which have already been agreed by Government, would increase the number of tests by more than 50,000 a year. These include an agreed bonus scheme for testers, the training up of other civil servants, and the employment of temporary contract staff.
The employment of temporary testers as a primary solution has previously been rejected by the department as being of limited use, because the testing centres and the administrative system for processing applications have limited additional capacity.
The department is drawing up other reforms of the driving licence system, including a ban on provisional licence holders driving alone and a more "gradated" system for obtaining a full licence.
The Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has previously told the Dáil that any significant reforms cannot be introduced until the backlog of tests is dealt with.
Speaking last night from New York, he said he was "disappointed" at yesterday's ruling. The proposal for outsourcing had "serious merit", he said.
"The Government has no intention of giving up on this. We must and will find a solution."