Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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285. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current number and wait times for a driving test, per test centre; the number of driving testers for each test centre; his plans to clear the backlog of driving test waiting times; the target timeframe for same; if he will consider outsourcing to the private sector, in line with measures taken by his Department in 2005 to reduce the backlog of driving test wait times; the total cost of the contract awarded to the private company in that period; the estimated cost to outsource further to the private sector to clear the current backlog, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37844/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. Consequently, the detailed information requested is held by that agency. I have referred that part of the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct reply.

I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.

There are no plans to outsource the driver testing service. Previously, the backlog in the service has been alleviated by recruiting additional driver testers, such that the supply of services required meets demand. As recently as last year, my Department sanctioned the recruitment of 30 additional permanent driver testers.

I acknowledge that the service continues to suffer 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 again and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval for further recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.

This recruitment is well underway and being managed by the Authority. However, a recruitment 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 allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on the geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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286. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will list the reason a driving tester may decline to proceed with a driving test; if his attention has been drawn to instances where a test will not proceed due to a slightly faded but in date insurance disk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37845/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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287. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of times a driving test did not proceed, despite the applicant having been offered a test date and having paid the money, due to issues on the day of the test, for example, faults with the physical car, lights, display of insurance disk, and so on, in 2022; and if a breakdown can be provided on that figure per test centre. [37846/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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288. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of times in 2022 that driving tests did not proceed due to the fact, that on the day of the test the driving tester stated that the car's insurance disk was slightly faded; and if a breakdown can be provided on this figure per test centre. [37847/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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289. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if there is an appeals process in place for instances where a driving tester refuses to proceed with a driving test on the day of the test due to issues with the vehicle for example, insurance, brake lights, and so on; if there is a means by which the customer may seek their money back, or challenge the decision of the tester. [37848/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 286 to 289, inclusive, together.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driving Test service. As such, the detailed information requested in relation to reasons why a test may not proceed and specific statistics around some of those reasons is held by that agency and I have referred the queries to the RSA for direct response. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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290. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the percentage of people who failed the driving test in 2022 in each test centre in the State. [37849/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driving Test service and holds the detailed information requested. I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for a direct reply on the specific issue raised. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.