Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate on the national driver testing service. From both the motion itself and contributions from Deputies during the debate, I believe we are all in agreement about wanting to provide a reliable, high-quality driver testing service throughout the State. As the House is aware, the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable public services. The driver testing service provision is no different. This is a key responsibility of the RSA and is integral to the delivery of the Government's road safety strategy. It is only through a robust testing service that we can have confidence that drivers on Irish roads have been trained and tested to the highest standards on how to handle a vehicle safely on our roads. This is especially critical in light of recent trends on our roads.

As the Minister of State explained, we are seeing unprecedented demand for driver testing services, which has increased by 28% compared with 2021 figures. The Road Safety Authority is currently providing an average of 4,000 tests per week, which is up from 3,186 in October 2022. The number of applications made for a driver test in 2023 is 5,024 per week on average and has increased from 3,254 applications per week in 2018.

The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and the Department of Transport have responded swiftly to this issue. At the beginning of the year, anticipating demand pressures, the authority reviewed the capacity of the driver testing service. Following a request for additional resources in March of this year, the Department of Transport granted sanction for the recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers, bringing the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to over 200. Recruitment is under way and being managed by the authority. I am pleased to say that the first tranche of new recruits was deployed in September. It was noted by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, that as of Friday, 6 October, 29 additional testers have joined the RSA and been deployed or are in training. A further 13 new testers are lined up for November. This will bring an overall net increase to the organisation of 42 additional testing personnel.

As the Minister of State outlined, we are already seeing improvements in the invitation to test waiting times. The national average has dropped from 30.4 weeks in August to 28.5 weeks in September. This is as a direct result of the additional capacity to test in the system. As this capacity further increases, the waiting times will continue to reduce. As this downward trajectory gains pace, a plan is in place in the RSA for the agreed service level, with average wait times of not more than ten weeks to be restored by the middle of 2024.

I draw the attention of Deputies to the Government's road safety strategy. We are committing to achieving Vision Zero, with no deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2050. A milestone on the path to that goal is to halve the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads by the end of this decade. As the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, emphasised, we must therefore ensure our driver tests are carried out to the highest standard to ensure safe and responsible drivers on our roads. Recruiting the right testers is critical to this outcome.

On the matter of payment for services using cash, the Minister has been clear that there must be an alternative payment option to electronic and card payments for all services provided. Further, the Minister for Finance has written to all Departments to advise that public bodies under this aegis should continue to accept cash payments while his Department prepares legislation and a new national payment strategy. On behalf of the Minister, I reiterate that no changes to payment methods have been agreed or implemented and no timeframe for any changes has been agreed or is in place. The RSA is clear on the need for alternatives to electronic payments in its discussions with service delivery providers. I once again thank Deputies for tabling this motion and for their contributions during the debate.

See this speech in context