Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senator. She is right that the delays are too long. It is a serious matter and I thank her for raising it, and for highlighting the pressure on young people and their families. She is correct in that regard.

I am smiling at the notion that the driving test is a rite of passage. It is. I would have loved to have taken the Senator for a driving lesson. One can imagine the fun we would have had. It is a serous matter. As the Senator knows, under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority has statutory responsibility for the national driving tester service. At the end of March, as the Senator said, the average waiting time was 24 weeks. That is far higher than the accepted service level agreement of ten weeks. I assure the Senator that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I are taking the matter seriously. We are considering how to address the issue.

As the population has grown, the demand on the driving test service has similarly increased, with last year being the busiest year in the history of the service. A total of 253,850 driving tests were conducted, which was an increase from 196,853 in 2023. This increase in demand for driving tests and the time to invitation for learner drivers has a number of contributing factors. As the Senator said, Covid-19 was one. There has also been an increase in the number of learner permits in circulation, increased capacity in the driver theory test and an increase in advanced driving instructors’ capacity to deliver lessons to learner drivers. The Department of Transport, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I have sought to support the RSA in meeting rising demand through a number of staffing sanctions in recent years. In September 2024, 70 additional permanent positions for driver testers were sanctioned. This increases the total permanent sanction for testers to 200, which represents a doubling since 2022. As a condition of sanction, officials requested the RSA to put a plan in place to restore waiting times to ten weeks as soon as possible.

A recruitment process is under way, with the first tranche of new testers being deployed into service this month. New testers will begin to come in over the coming months. I appreciate that needs to be expedited and fast-tracked. I hope we will see steady progress on reducing waiting times in the coming months.

To further alleviate pressure on the service, driver testing is offered on Saturdays where driver testers are available to do overtime and there are also additional morning and evening test slots available where daylight allows. This has been the case since the current backlog in driving tests started to build up. Sunday overtime is not offered, as the RSA would be required to offer a day in lieu for such testing, thereby adding no additional capacity to the driver testing service.

Additionally, to further assist with reducing waiting times, in October 2023 a change was made to the system to allow any unused slots to be made available for anyone to take up at short notice. The Senator is right that if there are cancellations, the RSA must allow such appointments to be available to candidates on the MyRoadSafety portal. If that is too difficult, we must make it easier. I will take the Senator's views on that point back to the Minister.

While new testers will bring additional capacity in the short term, in the longer term it is intended that the RSA will be reformed consequent to a Government decision of November 2024. This reform will be carried out on a phased and planned basis. A departmental group, led by the Department and comprising relevant stakeholders, is tasked with developing a comprehensive implementation plan, including required legislation, to ensure the delivery of real reform, road safety benefits and an improved customer experience.

I thank the Senator and assure her that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I have spoken about this issue with the Department. We are engaging with the RSA. There have been a number of meetings on this topic.There was a commitment to restore waiting times to ten weeks. Any additional levers to accelerate timelines will be used. I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. She is right; this is about people and people in rural areas sometimes require a car more than anything else.