A young Co Donegal woman has been forced to turn down a job working in television because she is still waiting to have her driving test.
The issue was raised in the Dail yesterday by Deputy Pearse Doherty who claimed the woman was being “forced out” of the Donegal Gaeltacht as a result.
The current wait times in Donegal can be up to 30 weeks.
Deputy Doherty told the Dail “83,000 people, as of April, are on a waiting list and these numbers are getting worse.
“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.”
The Sinn Fein TD said he was contacted by the woman, a native Irish speaker who was born and bred in the local Irish speaking community.
He revealed “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.
“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.”
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