Mr. Ruair? Creaney:

I reiterate our gratitude to the committee having us today and for the support it is offering. We hope it leads to more permanent jobs for our members.

The driver testing service is important to the overall aims of the Road Safety Authority. Indeed, its management has said that the high standard of the driving test has been instrumental in bringing down the number of road deaths in the past 20 or 30 years. The big risk with these long waiting lists is the temptation for many people with a provisional licence who are waiting six months or longer for a driving test to get behind a wheel on their own to nip down to the shop. That is when accidents happen and we want to avoid that. These people deliver an important public service. Our members who are driver testers feel the public's frustration. They are as frustrated as everyone on the waiting list. The sooner this issue can be put to bed and we can secure additional permanent posts in driver testing, the better. We will certainly hold management to the word it gave today and we will be back in touch with members of the committee to make sure the sanction request goes in. Perhaps the committee could put pressure on the Department to sanction the request if and when it goes in later this year.