Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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210. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the waiting times for a driving test in Tralee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56183/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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211. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the waiting times for a driving test in Killarney; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56184/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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212. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the waiting time for a driving test in Dublin bay south; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56185/23]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 to 212, inclusive, together.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service and the information requested is held by that agency. I have therefore referred the questions to the RSA for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.

On the broader issue of driver testing delays, the service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which has increased by 28% compared with 2021. The Authority is currently providing an average of 4,000 tests per week, up 25% on this time last year.

Anticipating ongoing demand pressures, the Authority reviewed the capacity of the service and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval for the recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers in March of this year. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to 205, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned testing posts in June 2022.

This recruitment is underway and I have been advised that the first tranche of new recruits were deployed in September. It is expected that before the end of the year there will be a net increase of 42 driver testers and they will be allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.

With the introduction of additional testers, national average wait times have been declining since the end of August and this improvement should accelerate as all new testers enter service. The RSA estimate that the agreed service level of average wait times of 10 weeks will resume in mid-2024.