Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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339. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is in receipt of a briefing from the RSA on restarting theory tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15311/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My Department is in constant contact with the RSA since the start of the pandemic regarding all of its services, the impact of Covid-19 on those services, and how they can best be maintained in the current circumstances.

The Driver Theory Test has not been deemed to be an essential service under Level 5 restrictions. The service will remain closed while level 5 restrictions remain in place.  While I fully appreciate the inconvenience this poses, I must emphasise, that this decision has been taken in line with official public health recommendations that everyone in Ireland work to limit the spread of the virus by staying at home in so far as is possible and minimising social contacts.

While the service is closed during Level 5 restrictions, the Road Safety Authority is examining ways of increasing the number of tests within health constraints with the aim of resuming testing after Level 5.

The RSA, together with its service provider, have put plans in place to increase capacity in the service from an average pre Covid19 capacity of 15,000 appointments up to 50,000 appointments per calendar month. This will help manage the backlog of customers and shorten waiting times.  Assuming a resumption in early April the higher capacity will start to take effect by the end of April.

In addition to the increased capacity initiative, the RSA is working to deliver an online driver theory test service. The online service has been trialled on a pilot basis for those taking a theory test for trucks and buses and is now being evaluated with a view to extending the online service to all test types during 2021. However, scaling up operations to facilitate higher numbers will take time to achieve.