Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The RSA has admitted that the current cohort of 130 testers will not be able to deal with the backlogs or cope into the future either. The Minister of State is right that sanction has been sought by the RSA for the employment of 40 additional testers. The RSA, under questioning from me, agreed that it should not be looking for temporary testers but that these should be permanent positions. Can the Minister of State confirm that the RSA has sought sanction for 40 permanent positions? It takes nearly a year to get these people into place. We have the longest ever waiting lists for driving tests, yet we cannot make a decision on this. I urge the Minister of State to sanction the funding to get these 40 additional testers into place and that these positions be permanent.

See this speech in context