'Ridiculous' driving test wait up to 30 weeks means Donegal woman can’t take TV job

A young Donegal woman and native Irish speaker is being forced out of the Gaeltacht as she can’t take up employment due to not having a driving license.

The current wait times for driving tests in Donegal are up to 30 weeks and Donegal TD and Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Finance Deputy Pearse Doherty raised the issue in the Dáil on behalf of the young woman.

Teachta Doherty said: “I’ve been contacted by a young woman from the Gaeltacht. A woman who was born and bred in an Irish-speaking community.

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“She wants to work in the Irish language sector in TV. She’s been offered a job in this field, but she will have to drive 25 minutes to access that job every single day. She has a car, she’s been able to pay for it, she has insurance, she has been able to pay for it, but she needs an accompanied driver because she hasn’t had her driving test. Seven months she has to wait.

“So, she’s left now in a situation where she can’t take up that job and she will likely have to leave the Gaeltacht and move to a city where she can access transport so as she can traverse to and from work. It is absolutely ridiculous.”

Doherty added that the situation nationally has been apparent for some time.

“Some 83,000 people, as of April, are on a waiting list and these numbers are getting worse,” he said. “Then 10,000 more in the last three months and this is simply out of control.

“It’s the government who are sitting on their hands whilst this is happening and the impact on every single one of these individuals is immense. And this isn’t an issue that fell out of the sky; it’s not an issue that happened overnight. This has been going on now for quite a significant period of time and what we see is the situation getting worse.”