Driving test increase bridged RSA funds gap

THE GOVERNMENT approved an increase in the cost of a driving test to €75 earlier this year to bridge a significant gap in funding for the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Documents released by the Department of Transport under Freedom of Information state that in the absence of a fee increase, the RSA would “not [be] in a position to undertake the commercial vehicle roadworthiness reform programme” this year.

This programme is aimed at improving the condition of the HGV fleet operating in the State. The department notes in the documents: “Some attempt must be made to engage this issue in 2009.”

The first year of the commercial vehicle roadworthiness plan was estimated to cost just under €9 million in 2009.

The price of a driving test almost doubled from €38 on April 8th, the day of the supplementary budget. The cost of a large vehicle test increased to €110. It was the first increase since 1992. Had the cumulative impact of consumer price inflation over the period been used to determine the increase, it would have been €63.

However, the €63 rate would have only covered three-quarters of the cost of the commercial vehicle roadworthiness programme, and as a result Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey opted to introduce the higher rate of €75. An increase to €75 for the driving test would generate an additional €8.5 million, according to the RSA.

In a proposal document on the matter issued to the department in January the RSA said its budget for this year was being cut by €14.1 million to €46.2 million, a fall of 23 per cent. “In the absence of a driving test fee increase the Authority is not in a position to undertake the commercial vehicle roadworthiness reform programme,” the RSA had said.

In a memo, department secretary general Julie O’Neill said the economic cost of a driving test is €74, excluding overheads such as back office functions.

The cost of every outsourced test conducted by private firm SGS was €87, according to the documents.

The RSA had 362,000 driving test applications last year, but expects this to drop to below 228,000 in 2009.