| [145]
117. Mr. Finucane   asked the Minister for the Environment the number of driving test inspectors assigned to a location (details supplied) in County Limerick: the age profile of persons who failed their driving tests; the most common driving fault of those taking the test in view of the high failure rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9239/96]
Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin): Driving tests in the south-west region, which includes the location in question, are conducted by a corps of 14 driver testers.
The breakdown by age group for the location concerned of persons who failed their test for the year ended 31 December 1995 was as follows:——
| Age Group |
Failure Rate |
| |
(%) |
| 16-21 |
40.7 |
| 22-25 |
44.4 |
| 26 and over |
46.5 |
| Overall |
44.1 |
Generally, the most common faults resulting in test failure are inadequate observation; incorrect position on roads; inadequate, or lack of, use of mirrors [146] and signals; inadequate reaction to hazards, inadequate progress; and incorrect use of vehicle controls.
118. Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for the Environment the failure rate for driving tests for each driving test centre in the country in each of the months from January to March 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9240/96]
Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin): The information requested is given in the following table. In test centres where there is a low level of testing, failure rates over a relatively short time span may not be representative of the true overall position in relation to these centres. Supervisory testers continuously monitor the work of driver testers in order to ensure the application of common test standards throughout the country and to establish underlying causes of significant and persistent deviation of failure rates from the national average.
| Test Centre |
January |
February |
March |
| |
% |
% |
% |
| Athlone |
30.5 |
50.8 |
42.1 |
| Ballina |
36.1 |
31.3 |
55.3 |
| Birr |
33.8 |
52.4 |
44.8 |
| Buncrana |
38.8 |
28.6 |
37.6 |
| Carlow |
40.1 |
53.0 |
47.1 |
| Carrick-on-Shannon |
33.3 |
43.5 |
46.7 |
| Castlebar |
39.1 |
39.9 |
33.3 |
| Cavan |
36.4 |
37.5 |
44.7 |
| Churchtown/Rathgar |
47.2 |
49.8 |
47.0 |
| Clifden |
50.0 |
47.4 |
36.1 |
| Clonmel |
42.5 |
46.7 |
45.3 |
| Cork |
37.5 |
34.8 |
38.3 |
| Donegal |
43.4 |
56.8 |
35.6 |
| Dundalk |
47.1 |
47.0 |
48.1 |
| Dungarvan |
39.1 |
48.0 |
49.5 |
| Ennis |
44.8 |
36.4 |
39.6 |
| Finglas |
46.8 |
49.0 |
47.8 |
| Galway |
41.0 |
41.2 |
44.2 |
| Gorey |
42.7 |
43.4 |
51.6 |
| Kilkenny |
36.3 |
45.9 |
40.8 |
| Killarney |
44.2 |
46.5 |
38.7 |
| Kilrush |
— |
40.0 |
47.4 |
| Letterkenny |
36.1 |
42.1 |
43.1 |
| Limerick |
51.5 |
31.8 |
40.9 |
| Longford |
60.0 |
49.5 |
59.3 |
| Loughrea |
37.3 |
35.1 |
38.8 |
| Mallow |
32.3 |
38.9 |
36.1 |
| Monaghan |
28.8 |
29.5 |
45.3 |
| [147]Mullingar |
39.2 |
48.8 |
31.6 |
| Naas |
44.6 |
41.8 |
45.6 |
| Navan |
47.0 |
42.9 |
41.3 |
| Nenagh |
50.0 |
42.3 |
50.0 |
| Newcastle West |
38.2 |
43.1 |
41.1 |
| Portlaoise |
50.0 |
50.0 |
52.6 |
| Roscommon |
44.2 |
50.4 |
31.4 |
| Shannon |
33.3 |
44.1 |
31.6 |
| Skibbereen |
30.9 |
29.9 |
23.3 |
| Sligo |
45.7 |
37.1 |
37.0 |
| Thurles |
38.9 |
47.2 |
50.7 |
| Tipperary |
57.4 |
56.8 |
54.3 |
| Tralee |
42.3 |
47.7 |
43.1 |
| Tuam |
49.4 |
52.8 |
— |
| Tullamore |
42.0 |
44.2 |
37.5 |
| Waterford |
44.3 |
48.5 |
47.3 |
| Wexford |
31.0 |
42.2 |
43.4 |
| Wicklow |
41.1 |
48.3 |
46.2 |
|
Page
of 187
