Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 377: To ask the Minister for Transport when and the way the contract was awarded to the publisher of the support material for the driver theory test; the revenue the State has gained from this arrangement; the way the retail price of the CD-ROM and booklet breakdown in terms of cost to the State, cost to the publisher, and profit margin of the publisher; his plans to make this material free to download on the internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13965/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 (Conferral of Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 477 of 2006) the Road Safety Authority has responsibility for the delivery of the driver theory test.

The contract to operate the driver theory test was awarded in 2001 following an EU wide tender. The contractor operating the Driver Theory Testing Service was granted an exclusive licence to publish and distribute the theory test question bank under the terms of the contract, which is now the responsibility of the Road Safety Authority. Any profits on sales of the book and the CD-ROM are taken into account in determining the amount of the test fee. I understand that there are no plans to make the material freely available on the internet.

While my Department and the RSA developed the question bank which is now the property of the Road Safety Authority there is no direct cost to the State arising from the publication of the question bank. Revenue generated by sales of the question bank are retained by the contractor except where revenue exceeds a set amount, when a percentage of the excess is payable to the RSA.

Revenue to the State since the inception of the contract in relation to sales of the question bank has amounted to almost 300,000 euros.