Driving Licence Service for the people of Donegal must be protected- Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD

Inishowen-based, Sinn Féin TD, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said yesterday he has learned there are plans to halve the opening hours of the National Driving Licence Service (NDLS) office in Letterkenny. The office would close from Monday to Wednesday and only open from Thursdays to Saturdays from late February to early March.

This office services North Donegal from West Donegal across to Inishowen, up to Malin Head.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn said a reduction in hours would be ‘unacceptable’.

"I am calling on the Minister for Transport and the Road Safety Authority (RSA), who are responsible for the NDLS, to urgently clarify the situation and give assurances that this important public service to the people of Donegal will, at the least, be maintained as it is. I have raised the need for an additional NDLS office to be opened in Inishowen with the Minister for Transport and the RSA in recent years and this request has been refused. To now learn that this already limited service will be reduced further is just unacceptable".

He continued: "Apparently, there are plans to increasingly move this service online rather than in person. This is very unfair to older people and to the families without broadband services across Donegal. This is not a private for profit service. This is a public service and I expect the Minister and the RSA to reverse these plans.2

The Journal is awaiting a response from the RSA.