Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and others for raising this most important issue. He made a good point that the summer months represent a very good opportunity to get moving on this issue. I stated that in excess of 3,000 online tests will be offered by the Road Safety Authority in June. The authority is also working to increase capacity in its physical testing centres, a matter to which the Deputy also referred. This would see the number of tests in centres increase from an average of approximately 15,000 tests per month prior to Covid, and will build up to 50,000 per month on a gradual basis once the service reopens.

We will make further announcements at the end of the week in respect of the ongoing reopening of society. Covid-19 has had the impact here, not Government or anybody else. Therefore, the challenge is how quickly we can get this back up and running, given that it is very important for young people who are seeking employment and who just generally want to be able to get on with the process of learning to drive.

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