Press Room

Following a meeting with the Minister for Transport today (Wednesday), Macra na Feirme have demanded that the waiting period for driving tests is reduced to six weeks.

The Macra national president is now telling the Minister to 'Rev up and Sort it!'

The national president of Macra, Colm Markey, said that at the meeting he had demanded that the Minister set out a clear timeline for reducing the waiting period to this target.

'The current waiting period of on average 43 weeks is farcical and the Minister must stop just acknowledging the problem and instead set a clear plan to reduce the waiting time to a reasonable period of six weeks,' he said.

The leader of the rural young persons' organisation said that a six-week waiting period was reasonable and would be acceptable to young drivers.
'The Minister must set out a clear target. Simply saying that he wants to reduce the waiting period is not enough given the exorbitant waiting period at present,' he said.

Using a driving parlance, Mr. Markey said that, in relation to the waiting list, he was now telling Minister Cullen to 'Rev up and Sort it''

Mr. Markey also used the meeting to tell the Minister that the current licensing and testing system was outdated, full of anomalies and in need of urgent reform.
'Every day we hear people highlighting shortcomings in the licensing and testing system and yet no real attempt has been made to secure reform,' he said.

Mr. Markey said the Minister needed to establish a working group consisting of all relevant stakeholders to look at the current arrangements.
'While we can't blame the carnage on the roads purely on the testing and licensing system, reforming the current regime would certainly make a difference,' he said.

-ends-