Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the interesting suggestion he offered. I will ask the Minister to respond to it. There is no doubt that this is a serious issue. Since the end of 2024, the good news is that the RSA has been providing a monthly average of 19,111 tests slots. This is up from a monthly average in the previous year of 18,300. However, let us not fool ourselves; I fully accept that a serious challenge exists. The waiting time is meant to be ten weeks. That is the commitment that was given but in some parts of the country I hear that it can be up to 22 weeks, on average, for many people. The good news is that we are in the process of trying to employ extra testers. My understanding is that the Department sanctioned 70 permanent additional driver testing posts. This would bring the permanent sanction to 200. That is a doubling of the number of posts since 2022. As a quid pro quo, the RSA has been asked to put in place a plan to restore waiting times to ten weeks. I am told that recruitment is under way for those extra testers. I am told that 300 applicants have been brought through to the final assessment stage.

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