Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of persons awaiting a driving test in the RSA Cavan driving test centre; the number of weeks that applicants are on waiting lists for a test date; when the huge delays experienced in Cavan for driving tests will be meaningfully addressed; if his attention has been drawn to the long time lag between applicants completing their required driving lessons and being facilitated with a test; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that many of the applicants are young people who need to travel for education or employment purposes, who do not have access to public transport and are disadvantaged in many ways by not having full driving licences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44709/22]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The operation of the national driving test service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority (RSA). Information on the driving test waiting times in the Cavan area is held by the RSA. I have therefore referred this part of the question to the Authority for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

Due to suspension of driver testing services in the first 2020 lockdown, along with health protocols since resumption and further curtailing of services during subsequent restrictions, a significant backlog developed.

Since public health restrictions have eased, considerable progress has been made in addressing these backlogs, with waiting times having reduced significantly.

Pre-Covid, the target national average wait for a test was 10 weeks. On the eve of the pandemic, however, the actual waiting time was around six and a half weeks. This increased to 25 weeks during the pandemic. The pre-pandemic target of having a national average wait of ten weeks was once again achieved by the end of 2021. Projections made early last year had estimated it would be February 2022 before this point was reached.

At the end July 2022, the national average time to invite for a test in Ireland was just over 10 weeks. At that time there were 13,800 people scheduled to take a driving test and a further 32,700 waiting for their invitation. There has been an increase in application volumes and learners becoming eligible to take their test since the start of the year as the economy once again reopened post-pandemic and many learners who availed of increased capacity in the Driver Theory Test are now becoming eligible. While there has been some growth in demand over the summer months and accompanying seasonal capacity constraints, the RSA are confident that current delays within the system will rectify before year end.

In early 2022, the RSA conducted a review of the current and evolving needs of the driver tester service. This recommended that the number of permanent driver testers employed by the RSA should be raised from 100 to 130. My Department considered the RSA’s request and gave its approval in June 2022. This recruitment process is now underway. The RSA hope to see new testers start work in late Autumn.