Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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138. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to introduce mandatory testing of learner drivers competency on a more frequent timeline than is currently in place; if he has engaged with the Road Safety Authority in relation to the number of learner permits a person may avail of over the course of their learning period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18108/20]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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139. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the Road Safety Authority lodged submissions to him and or his predecessor in relation to reform of the learner driver licencing process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18109/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 139 together.

I am aware that there are a large number of people driving on our roads on their 4th, 5th, 6th or subsequent learner permit. While it is legal for a learner permit holder to drive on our roads as long as they are accompanied by a qualified person, I agree there is a need to reduce the number of people driving on recurring learner permits without clear reasons.

In late 2019, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) forwarded proposals to this Department setting out possible measures that could be introduced to encourage learner drivers to sit a driving test. Such measures included, for a fifth or subsequent permit, an increase in the cost of the permit; a decrease in the duration of a permit; a requirement to take mandatory lessons with an approved driving instructor and a requirement to take a driving test before another permit can be issued. The objective is to make it a disincentive to rely long term on a learner permit. These measures took account of the shorter wait times for tests and the increased tester resources that were available to the RSA at the end of 2019.

The RSA proposals were examined, but due to the caretaker Government in place earlier this year, it was not possible to make policy changes. Since then, urgent measures introduced to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic have taken precedence. 

The proposals will need to be re-examined in light of current conditions. The cessation of services in March 2020 and recent resumption of car driver testing services from 16 July, has led to a backlog of people awaiting driving tests. The RSA is currently dealing with people in order of priority i.e. essential workers and those who had tests cancelled. Therefore, it would be prudent to delay any changes to regulations to make it mandatory for long term permit holders to sit a test until the driving test service has stabilised. The position will be kept under review.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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140. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address the backlog of driver tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18126/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Deputy will appreciate that this is essentially an operational matter for the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

In line with the Government's plans for resumption of services, driving tests for cars, minibuses and vans resumed on 16 July.  Tests in other categories had already resumed.  The suspension of the service during the pandemic inevitably led to backlogs.  At the same time, the need for compliance with health protocols inevitably reduces the throughput of test candidates at the different test centres.

The RSA is managing the situation by prioritizing those who had a test booked before the closure of the service which was cancelled due to the pandemic, and those in essential services.  One option which may be considered is the employment of additional testers, something which has been done in the past to address backlogs.  However it would be premature to make a decision on staffing at this stage, as many of the issues to be addressed deal with the throughput of centres themselves in light of the restrictions, rather than on the availability of staff.

My Department is remaining in close contact with the RSA, which is exploring how further to manage backlogs while prioritizing public health, and this process is being informed by lessons learned as centres operate under the new health restrictions.