Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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166. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the backlog in driving test waiting lists will be cleared. [2704/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Covid 19 has had a profound effect on the delivery of the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) driving testing service. In particular, both Covid-related staff absences and cancellations have impacted on service delivery.

That said, every possible measure is being put in place to ensure that the maximum number of customers can be served while complying with Covid public health guidance. To meet the demand for tests, approval has been given to significantly increase the capacity of the service through the recruitment and extension of a number of existing driver tester contracts. This, and the introduction of a new booking system for tests, have had a noticeable impact on reducing Covid waiting list backlogs.

The RSA is continuing to monitor the impact of Covid on waiting lists as they work through the Covid backlog and are in the process of conducting a medium to long term review of the resources needed to further enhance the driving test service. It is anticipated that the results of this review will be available in the first of quarter of this year.