Long waits for Kerry learner drivers

TRALEE AND KILLARNEY AMONG CENTRES WITH ‘LONGEST WAIT TIME’

LATEST National Safety Authority (RSA) figures show average waiting times for driving tests in Killarney and Tralee is 14 and 16 weeks respectively.

However, the aforesaid centres rank among the worst in the country when it comes to ‘Longest Wait Time’ with Tralee in joint top spot on 25 weeks, and Killarney in joint third on 23 weeks.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae lambasted the figures calling them an ‘insult to young drivers’. In a recent parliamentary question, the Kilgarvan Deputy called on Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, to make the Kerry figures available and to act to reduce the times, citing them as ‘unacceptable and ridiculous’.

“There should not be waiting times this high in Kerry,” the deputy told The Kerryman. “They need to put more resources into it and get the job done. The delays are an insult to young people, particularly in rural areas where they need their license in order to get to college or work.”

Mr Healy-Rae added that two main centres serving the entire county was no longer good enough and that a more hands-on approach is needed. The county’s main driver test centres are in Tralee and Killarney with 1,319 people currently waiting to take a test, Tralee (660) and Killarney (659). In July 2017 the RSA said there were two driver testers in Tralee and two in Killarney, but these testers were also conducting driving tests in other centres around the county.

“They should be working day and night and weekends to clear this backlog. Why don’t they go at it in the same way that someone in the private sector would? They need to go at it and don’t be making fools out of young people who are trying to abide by the law. All they want is to be able to get to work and college. I think they are being badly let down,” he added. The average waiting times are for category B tests.