Separate legislation will be published in the Dáil in the coming weeks aiming to overhaul the State's driving test service.
The Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill will set up the new public sector body whose job it will be to overhaul the current system of testing drivers, set standards for driving instructors and take on a broad brief to monitor general driving standards in the State.
The idea for the DTSA follows a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2000, and a separate subsequent report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers highlighting inefficiencies in the driver testing system.
The average waiting time for a driving test in the State stands at almost 42 weeks. The waiting time varies widely from test centre to test centre. In Naas, Co Kildare, for example, the wait is 66 weeks, while in Ennis, Co Clare the time is only 12 weeks.
The number of people taking the driving test has surged from 180,000 in 2001 to 234,000 in 2003, after Mr Brennan announced he would be outlawing the practice of driving on a provisional licence for extended periods. Irish candidates are waiting an average of five times more than their counterparts in out nearest neighbour, Britain.
The Department of Transport hopes the setting up of the new agency will reduce waiting times to about 12 weeks on average.
The DTSA, which will be up and running in the second half of this year, will subsume the current driving test staff of 130 and may recruit extra workers. The Department is in discussions with existing staff about the implications of the creation of the new body.
It will be an independently-run Government body with its own board and chief executive, similar to the National Roads Authority or the Rail Procurement Agency. Motors understands the DTSA's headquarters will be in Ballina, Co Mayo, from where the current Driving Test is run.
The new legislation will also make provision for making driving lessons compulsory for those taking the driving test. It is believed a minimum requirement of 12 hours instruction will be introduced.
The General Manager of the Irish School of Motoring (ISM), Karl Walsh welcomed the moves to inspect driving instructors and to make lessons compulsory for provisional licence drivers.
Ireland is the only country in the European Union which does not have compulsory driving lessons for those wishing to take driving tests. In Britain, compulsory tuition for motorcyclists has been introduced as a pre-cursor to its introduction for all drivers.
Yesterday the Cabinet approved the heads of a new Traffic Bill due to go before the Dáil in this session.
The Bill will allow the introduction of measures such as random breath testing for drivers, legislation outlawing the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving, and the roll-out of privatised speed cameras across the State.
The measures form the backbone of the Government's yet-to-be published road safety strategy. The Government's previous strategy ran out at the start of last year.
