Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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204. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of persons who are awaiting a driving test appointment; the breakdown by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9974/22]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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205. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of persons who are awaiting a motorcycle test appointment; the breakdown by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9975/22]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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206. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of persons who are awaiting a car theory test appointment; the breakdown by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9976/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 204 to 206, inclusive, together.

Under legislation, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is responsible for the operation of driving tests.

I have therefore forwarded the Deputy's query to the RSA for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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207. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps that are being taken to clear the backlog of driving test appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9977/22]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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208. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps that are being taken to clear the backlog of motorcycle test appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9978/22]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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213. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the difficulties that have led to delays in motorcycle tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10018/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 207, 208 and 213 together.

Under legislation, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is responsible for the operation of the national driving test service.

While Covid 19 had a profound effect on the operation of the service, the RSA is putting every possible measure 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.

Pre-pandemic, the average waiting time target for a driving test was ten weeks, although on the immediate eve of the pandemic the actual waiting time was around six and a half weeks. This increased to 25 weeks during the Pandemic. With the improving public health situation, the pre-pandemic average national waiting time target of ten weeks was achieved in the last few weeks.