Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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133. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason the waiting time for a driving test in Donegal has increased (details supplied); if he can provide a list of the current waiting times in all test centres nationwide in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44943/23]

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.

The specific information requested is held by the RSA. Therefore, I have referred 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.

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 and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval in March 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 is underway and being managed by the Authority. I have been advised that the first tranche of new recruits were deployed in September. The additional driver testers are being allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.

As the additional driver testers are trained and deployed, the backlog for driver testing services will begin to decline and the RSA estimate that the agreed service levels of average wait times of 10 weeks will resume in mid-2024.