Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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368. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a driving test for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38578/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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372. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a driving test for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38619/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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373. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a driving test for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38620/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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374. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of a driving test for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38622/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 368 and 372 to 374, inclusive, together.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driving Test service. Consequently, neither I nor my Department have the power to intervene in individual cases.

On the broader issue of delays, the service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which has increased by 28% compared with 2021 figures. In response to these pressures, the Authority reviewed the capacity of the driver testing service earlier this year and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval for the recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.

This recruitment campaign is well underway and is being managed by the Authority. However, a campaign of this size takes time. It is expected that once these additional driver testers are trained and deployed, the backlog for driver testing services will be actively managed such that agreed service levels resume and wait times begin to decline. I have been advised by the Authority that the first newly recruited testers should be deployed in late September.

The additional driver testers will be deployed across the driver testing service with a focus on the geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.