Motorists in Northern Ireland have been dealt another financial blow after it emerged that the cost of driving licences will rise by up to 60%.
For people learning to drive the price of a provisional licence will be subject to a £12.50 hike (or 25%), going up from £50 to £62.50.
Renewing or repairing a licence will cost £30 instead of £20 (up 50%), while drivers applying for a licence after a disqualification will face higher increases of up to 60%.
Environment Minister Alex Attwood has announced the proposals to raise the fees at a time when drivers are struggling with record fuel bills.
Statistics from the AA last month revealed petrol and diesel cost more in Northern Ireland than in any other UK region.
University of Ulster retail analyst Donald McFetridge said the news will exacerbate the burden of owning, driving and licensing a vehicle here.
“These additional costs will add greatly to the already spiralling cost of living, particularly for younger motorists and for those who, in many parts of Northern Ireland, are heavily reliant on car usage due to geographical location,” said Mr McFetridge.
“Running a car these days is extremely expensive. Motor tax costs were increased at the last Budget with the result that a growing number of motorists are opting to tax their vehicles for only six months instead of 12, in spite of being able to save a small amount if they choose to tax their vehicle for the full 12 months.”

A DSA examiner from Lincoln has appeared in court to deny taking money and attempting to gain sexual favours in return for passing learner drivers on test.

Mr Cwierzona worked at the Barnet test centre as an examiner and has been accused of attempting to obtain money in exchange for passing pupils, yet he denies all charges.

Four defendants accused of corruption because they had agreed to pay or did pay Mr Cwierzona are also due to appear in court.

The monetary value offered to Mr Cwierzona was thought to be between £80 and £500 from the various learners.

Not only has this examiner defied the DSA and their rules and regulations for passing learners passed on their merit and performance on the day, but he is potentially endangering lives. If these learners felt they were competent enough to pass there would have been no need to pay the examiner.  If Mr Cwierzona had got away with this, we could have many drivers on the road who are not safe.

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The DSA (Driving Standards Agency) who conduct all driving tests are set to trial tablet computers in a bid to cut down on paper use and time interpreting the candidate’s data.

At present, an examiner will complete a paper examination form on the day of the test and no matter what the result, the form is sent off to the DSA’s head office in Newcastle to be processed. If a candidate is successful the information then needs to be sent to the DVLA in order for a full licence to be issued.

The tablet computers are hoped to save time, money and speed up the process of obtaining your full licence, not to mention save trees. With the DSA conducting over 1.6million tests last year alone, they needed to review the current old fashioned way of recording test data.

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