Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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As ever, the Minister, Deputy Ross, is very welcome. I always seem to be in the Chair to greet him, which I am glad to do.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I also welcome the Minister, Deputy Ross, to the House. I appreciate he is taking time out of his busy schedule. One thing I can say about the Minister is he comes to the Seanad and engages with Senators and I acknowledge this. I know Members appreciate when a Minister comes to the House and the Minister, Deputy Ross, does so when at all possible. I acknowledge this and thank him for it.

I do not want to go into this at length as we have had a few argy-bargies about driver tests and I do not want to get too bogged down in the figures. Suffice it to say, today I contacted the RSA, which I do regularly, and I acknowledge its support in sending on updated details. While I do not want to get bogged down in the details, the email I received from the RSA confirmed that 76,964 applicants are on the driver test list. Of these, 30,370 tests have been scheduled and a further 25,079 applicants are waiting for a test date. The remaining 21,514 applicants are unavailable for testing, for example, because an applicant has not completed the mandatory driver test lessons. In essence, today 55,000 people are waiting for a driver test.

The Minister remembers telling us the RSA was engaging more testers. I followed this up with the RSA to discover a number of testers were due to retire in November and December. This means that while new people were coming on stream other people were due to retire. There is also a training period of six to eight weeks. What we are saying is we have an issue. What is really important, and the Minister knows this from speaking to his rural colleagues, is that the majority of young people living in rural Ireland depend on their cars for college, work and daily life. They need an opportunity to do their test and, therefore, to demonstrate their ability to drive safely on our roads. I know this is paramount for the Minister.

What additional resources can be put in place to speed up this process? Has the Minister or the RSA considered outsourcing some of the testing? For that matter, would it be appropriate to consider this? It was done in the past. Professional people with competence in this area of testing and examination could be brought in to eat into the backlog. Today, in Tallaght, 2,754 people are listed as scheduled for an appointment, in Cork the figure is 2,491, in Finglas the figure is 2,699 and in Churchtown, the Minister's home patch, the figure is 1,466. Will the Minister look favourably at supporting whatever mechanisms are necessary to get a grip on these very long waiting lists that are causing concern, in particular to rural people and rural communities?

I am aware that since December there have been 350 cases of cars of unaccompanied learner drivers being seized. I do not condone learner drivers driving unaccompanied. It is not right that people who are not fully competent and tested are driving. We cannot allow people to break the law. On the other hand, we must support these people to be able to do their test as quickly as possible, demonstrate their competence and be allowed to get out on the road. Will the Minister update us on some of the figures? How does the Minister intend to use his office to influence speedier reductions in these lists?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Senator. I never get weary of responding to this question because it is important. I hope the response and the achievements will be acknowledged by those who have, quite rightly, raised it in the past. The driver test service is provided by the Road Safety Authority. I am very aware of the current waiting times for driver tests throughout the country.I accept waiting times at some centres remain high. Measures being put in place, however, by the Road Safety Authority are working towards reducing waiting times for the public. The Road Safety Authority's target for a national average time for a driver test is no longer than ten weeks. Of the 50 test centres around the country, 33 now meet this target, with many coming in under ten weeks. The current average wait time, as of 4 March 2019, is 8.8 weeks. Some centres, such as Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlebar, Dún Laoghaire-Deansgrange, Finglas, Letterkenny, Naas, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford are at six weeks or less. There are, however, some centres where the wait time is considerably longer.

The longest average wait times are currently in Wicklow, at 17.6 weeks, and Kilrush, at 15.9 weeks. The average waiting time for driver tests at all centres are available on the Road Safety Authority's website,www.rsa.ie. This information is updated weekly. It should be noted that the figure shown in the longest wait time column is the longest time that one, or more, applicants has been waiting for a test. It is not the average wait time. That figure is likely due to issues such as non-completion of the mandatory 12 EDT lessons, fee payments outstanding or an applicant rescheduling an appointment.

It should also be noted that an applicant can apply to sit the driver test at any test centre in the country. In 2018, following my approval, the Road Safety Authority recruited 52 driver testers and another 14 driver testers are undergoing training. In addition, it is planned to recruit eight more driver testers in March. Including the 14 driver testers in training, there are now 147.94 full-time equivalent driver testers available for deployment. This provides an annual capacity of 260,000 driving tests. Despite an increase in applications for driver tests, which may reflect legislative changes in respect of enforcing the existing law on unaccompanied learner drivers, the Clancy amendment, as well as ongoing economic and demographic growth, there is a gradual reduction in waiting times at almost all test centres.

With the additional resources available, as well as those coming on stream, waiting times will continue to reduce at all test centres. The Road Safety Authority provides a facility where driving test cancellations are made available to applicants who may need an urgent appointment. An applicant should contact the Road Safety Authority directly and request that he or she be placed on the cancellation list. In order to be fair to all applicants, cancellation places will be assigned in order of the date of placement on the list. If an applicant requires a driver test urgently, for employment or emigration purposes, the Road Safety Authority will make every effort to accommodate that person.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his report. It is factually correct. I accept that but it does not address today's reality. We have 55,000 people waiting to be tested. When are we going to tackle this issue and reduce these numbers? As I stated, in Churchtown, part of the Minister's own area, there are 1,466 applicants scheduled for an appointment as of today at 1 p.m. I can only ask that the Minister keep this matter under review. That is all we can do. I commit to keeping the focus on this issue and to ask questions.

In fairness to the Road Safety Authority, it is very willing to update me regularly on any request I make. That is fair. The Minister did not know in advance I might ask this question and, therefore, he did not address it. Might he consider bringing in some private contractors to work on this backlog for a one-off stint, perhaps for three months? I refer to a situation where large numbers of applicants are still waiting for tests after three months. If that is the case, perhaps some competent people could be brought in for a few months to augment the current services to see if we can make real in-roads into these waiting lists.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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It would have been helpful if those who have been so critical of the waiting times, and rightly so, were prepared to acknowledge that the target of ten weeks, which I have never seen disputed, has been beaten. It is down at 8.8 weeks now. I am delighted to be able to say that today. That is the lowest figure for a long time. An acknowledgement of that fact would have been more helpful than to call for some kind of private contractors when the RSA is doing exactly what Senator Boyhan is calling for. It is getting a grip on the figures and reducing the numbers.I look forward to seeing them going lower but I have no current plans to take up the Senator's suggestion.