Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I request that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, come to the House to debate the standing of a driving test centre for Drogheda in County Louth. We had a temporary driving test centre between 2021 and 2023, which had the longest waiting list in the country. A total of 14 different locations were checked by the RSA when looking for a suitable location to relocate the centre. It did not find anything and we lost the driving test centre. At the time, the centre had a waiting list of 2,200 people. They were moved to nearby locations in Dundalk and Navan where, unfortunately, the waiting times are some of the longest in the country. I understand the Department and the RSA would like waiting times of between ten and 12 weeks for people to be invited to get a driving test. At present Navan has a waiting time of eight months and Dundalk has a five-month waiting time. Some of the reasons given for locations in Drogheda, County Louth, not being suitable were heavy traffic and speed ramps. I respectfully suggest these are the ideal conditions to carry out a driving test. We now have young drivers and learner drivers having to travel to various towns in the area where they have not taken lessons and they are not familiar with the routes. I would love to find out whether we have an update on the RSA finding a suitable location for a driving test centre in Drogheda, County Louth.