Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

194. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the number of people waiting on a driving test in each county; when the backlog will be dealt with, given that many people are extremely stressed waiting on a test as they require a car to travel to college as they live in the countryside and there is no public transport available, and the fact that there is a lack of student accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23823/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The operation of the national driving test service is the statutory responsibility of the Road Safety Authority and the information requested is held by them. I have therefore referred this 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.

I would like to assure the Deputy that my Department is working closely with the Authority on addressing driver testing waiting times, which is an issue of great concern.

The service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which is up 28% on 2021 figures. This increase in demand for driving tests and the time to invitation for learner drivers has a number of contributing factors which include an increase in learner permits in circulation, increased capacity in the Driver Theory Test and an increase in Approved Driving Instructors capacity to deliver lessons to learner drivers.

The RSA has reviewed the capacity of the driver testing service to meet demand and following a request for additional resources in March 2023, my Department has given approval for the recruitment of up to 75 driver testers. This is in addition to the 30 testers who were previously sanctioned in July 2022 and which have been fully deployed since the end of March 2023. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.

It is expected that once these additional 75 driver testers are recruited, trained and deployed, the backlog for driver testing services will start to reduce from October 2023 and agreed service levels should resume by early to mid-2024. The additional testers will be assigned to fill current vacancies and otherwise allocated to centres with the highest demand for tests. The recruitment campaign is currently under way.