Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is helpful. I have a couple of points for the Minister. There is a huge amount contained in the Bill and it is doing a huge amount of work. In regard to changes to the regulation of driving instruction, I encourage the Minister to engage with the sector. The committee has met with representatives of driving instructors. They are organised and engaged as they try to come out of the Covid period and deal with the significant backlog in driving tests and lessons. I want to flag again that there are ongoing issues in regard to access to testing centres. As I have been saying for many months, this issue is resolvable and it should be resolved at the earliest possible opportunity.

The premise of this legislation is, of course, safety. In that context I wish to raise the issue of driver theory tests. We are back since 8 June and I hear from colleagues throughout the country of ongoing problems in accessing theory tests. It is fair enough if these are online or other technological issues that are being addressed. However, my local newspaper, which I picked up on the way to work this morning, as I do every week, featured an article on the theory test. People from Donegal and Dublin, along with local people, travelled to the theory test centre in Navan on Saturday for scheduled appointments. The testing centre never opened, for whatever reason. There was no explanation from the Road Safety Authority, RSA, or anybody else. It was very frustrating for people who had organised themselves to get the theory test done. I ask for an update. Is the Minister hearing about this? What is the issue and when will it be resolved?