NDLS service review raised by council
The potential loss of opening hours at the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS) office in Cavan was raised at the February monthly meeting of local councillors.
It follows news that the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is undertaking a review of the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS) network.
The service was first established in 2013 with 34 NDLS centres around the country.
The review is still ongoing, according to reports, but is due to be completed shortly.
The potential threat to the service locally was greeted with widespread objection from within the council chamber, following a motion tabled by Fine Gael’s Trevor Smith.
He said that staff affected would essentially see their hours cut in half.
It wasn’t good enough, he said, especially given demand for appointments is so high.
Cllr Smith said it was important that an in-person service be maintained at the NDLS office, located next to Tesco at Townparks, Cavan Town, for elderly people and other potentially vulnerable users who might not have access to online systems.
Independent Shane P. O’Reilly criticised the service at present for being “unhelpful” to those in need, and suggested there was an attempt to “push” more and more people into transacting their licence applications online. “People need a counter service.”
Fine Gael’s Madeleine Argue described the online application system as “confusing”, and noted that applicants still had to go to see their doctor in person to get a medical certificate before applying.
She said there was “not a chance” that older people living on their own could navigate the online process.
Fianna Fáil’s Patricia Walsh meanwhile described the NDLS counter in Cavan as an “essential service”.
Responding to a query from The Anglo-Celt, an NDLS spokesperson issued the following statement:
'The Road Safety Authority (RSA) was given responsibility for the delivery of the driver licensing service by government in 2013. The service was established with 34 NDLS centres around the country in October 2013.
'The 34 regional NDLS centres are operated under contract on behalf of the RSA by SGS. These centres operate on an appointment basis only and can be booked either online or by phone.
'The RSA regularly reviews the workings of all processes involved in delivering its services. The RSA recently completed an analysis of the uptake of NDLS application processes. Following this analysis, the RSA can confirm that there will be no changes made to the processes for applying for a licence or learner permit.'