Dempsey announces driving law exemption

Éanna Ó Caollai

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has announced an exemption until June 2008 for 122,000 learner drivers who would otherwise have to travel accompanied at all times with a full licence holder under new regulations which were due to take effect this week.

Speaking on RTÉ radio this afternoon, Minister Dempsey said he had postponed a provision which stated that drivers holding a second provisional licence would have to be accompanied at all times by a current full licence holder with two years' experience.

Mr Dempsey stressed that although there was strong support for the proposed reforms to improve road safety, there were also calls for a reasonable lead-in time to enable people to prepare for and take their test, or to make alternative arrangements.

Mr Dempsey said he had listened to the debate and was postponing the provision until the 30th of June "to make sure that they have plenty of notice".

The minister has faced intensive criticism after he announced the measure last week with the publication of the new Road Safety Strategy.

Critics rounded on the introduction of the measures at such short notice.

The measures include the introduction of a new learner permit system and penalties against provisional license holders who drive unaccompanied with fines of €1,000 upon conviction.

Mr Dempsey said the 122,000 provisional licence holders who have been looking to have a test "would have a test completed by March".

He added the Government was supplying finance to the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to ensure that tests are available. Mr Dempsey said the RSA had given an assurance that anyone who applies for a test will be able to have it on demand "which is generally regarded as 10 weeks."

The Minister confirmed that the new learner permit system will still come into force this week. "As and from Tuesday next, any new applicant for a driving licence will get a driver permit.

The rules applying to that learner permit will be that the holder has to be accompanied by a driver who has a full time licence for at least two years. And the [learner permit] holder will have to have a minimum of six months supervised driving practice before applying for a test."

Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority Noel Brett confirmed the move and said the RSA already has in place the necessary driving testing capacity to ensure that current driving test applicants registered up to last Thursday will be offered a driving test by March 2008. Labour Party Spokesman on Transport Tommy Broughan described the move as "a humiliating u-turn".

He said the principal responsibility for "this fiasco" must rest with Minister Dempsey, who he claimed "has damaged the new Road Safety Strategy, put the Gardaí in an impossible position and caused needless distress to young drivers and their families."

Mr Broughan's party leader, Mr Eamon Gilmore had called yesterday for a six-month stay on the introduction of the new laws.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Mr Gilmore said: "Ironically there is widespread political and public acceptance of the need to removal the anomaly in our driver system that allowed the holder of a second provisional licence to drive without having to be accompanied by a full licence holder."

There are currently more than 425,000 provisional licence holders in the state with 209,253 first time holders, 121,871 on their second, 31,792 on their third, 25,076 on their forth and 37,233 on their fifth or subsequent.