Politicians are bombarding the Road Safety Authority with pleas for help with driving tests from desperate constituents.
And one TD said the RSA needs to be more accountable for its “shocking” delays.
Figures provided under FOI detail how the RSA is getting nearly three emails every working day from politicians with one Oireachtas member having sent 90 such representations since the beginning of last year.
Read More : Sean Rooney hailed 'national treasure' as mum tells funeral of her pride for son
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has been sending at least one every week with several government ministers also submitting a high volume of requests and queries to the Road Safety Authority.
The RSA said they had received 1,237 direct communications from TDs and Senators in the period between January 2021 and mid-September this year.
Of those, 51 came from Minister of State James Browne, 45 from Independent TD Thomas Pringle, 42 from Junior Minister Niall Collins, 36 from Fianna Fail Senator Timmy Dooley, 31 from Minister Heather Humphreys, and 28 from Independent TD Michael Lowry.
Others who submitted at least 20 queries included Danny Healy-Rae, Michael Ring, and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue.
Just a single representation was submitted by the new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with none having come from the office of the now Tanaiste Micheal Martin.
Asked about the high level of representations he had sent, Mattie McGrath said: “Some centres don’t have enough testers, others have people out sick.
“It’s just not good enough. People want to get their test – and if they can’t pass, fair enough.”
A spokesman for the Road Safety Authority said: “In relation to all requests for urgent driving tests [our] policy is as follows.
“If a customer is a critical frontline worker employed by the HSE, a private hospital or the emergency services and need to drive in the course of their duties they may submit a request using a special form on the RSA website.
“If that request is approved then the customer will be prioritised. In the interest of fairness to all customers, invitations to book a test slot are issued in strict rotation, with those who applied and are eligible being invited first.
“Where a customer has previously failed their car test and reapplied, these are fast-tracked and sent a new booking invitation six to eight weeks after their previous test.”
READ NEXT :
Irish counties luckiest and unluckiest with scratch card wins named
Irish girl writes heartbreaking letter to Santa asking for dead brother home
Met Eireann pinpoints likely arrival of snow as Christmas forecast published
Passengers blast prices as Dublin Airport pub re-opens after refurbishment
'I give €30 to my postman but not everyone agrees with Christmas gesture'
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
