To ask the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to AQW 38577/11-15, what assurance he can provide that a review of current fees for the processing of driver licences, which are currently not in parity with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, will be a priority objective during the development of a new driver licensing IT system.

In my response to AQW 38577/11-15 I advised that the administration of driver licensing in Northern Ireland is expected, as far as possible, to be a self-financing service, with costs recovered through fee income.

The Northern Ireland Driver Licensing System (NIDLS) was developed some 30 years ago, and while some enhancements have been made to the system there has been no redesign in relation to data structure, business logic or processing since the system was first introduced.

The development of a new driver licensing system, which includes a fundamental review of business processes, will provide a range of online services and deliver efficiency savings.

However these improvements, which will be phased in, may take some time for all of the efficiencies to be realised.

In the meantime, the DVA will continue to annually review the administration of driver licensing and, in particular, the fees charged to ensure that the service is cost effective and where efficiency savings are realised these are passed onto customers.