Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the capacity for online theory testing will expand (details supplied). [29881/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Under legislation, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is the body responsible for the operation of the Theory Test. The RSA has been working to deliver an online theory test service, with a pilot online test already underway for trucks and buses. This pilot service has now been extended to include a limited number of car and motorbike tests. 

The new offering will see 4,000 online theory tests available for all categories of vehicles per month. Tests are available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis with the new online service becoming more widely available later in the year.

The current online offering is an interim solution to help meet some of the demand from customers looking for a theory test appointment. The RSA is fully committed to extending the service further; however, this expansion of services will take time due to technical infrastructure issues that first need to be addressed.

Both the RSA and the Theory Test contractor are working extremely hard to ensure online services are more widely available towards the end of 2021.