Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the theory test, and I will make reference to the driving test as well, there are one in five no-shows. It is very important to say that. Almost 30% of those who sit their theory test fail it so they will be reapplying for that and there are free slots available for the theory test. There is a huge amount of work there. The target was to have 50,000 theory tests per month so that is well on target and the RSA is working well in relation to that.

Regarding the driving test backlog, there will be, and is, pent-up demand. There are people who did not apply for a driving test as they did not consider themselves essential workers. The driver testing failure rate is about 44%. The Deputy's point about getting drivers test-ready is valid. There are a number of people who have applied for the driving test who do not feel they are ready. We have all been there in the past. People apply for it hoping they will be ready and when it comes to it they are not. There will be pent-up demand. The truer figure for that backlog is about 46,500 people currently waiting. With the extra 40 testers, and seven tests per tester per day, we should see that backlog reducing by December.

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