Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will ensure that adequate personnel are allocated to the Cavan driver test centre to reduce delays in tests; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28629/24]

James Lawless (Kildare North, 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. This includes driver tester allocation. I have therefore referred the question to the RSA for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is

There are currently two driver testers allocated to Cavan. While a driver tester may be assigned to one centre, testers routinely and regularly move between centres to meet various demands.

At the end of May, the estimated wait time for Cavan was 16 weeks, while the estimated national average wait time to be invited to sit a driving test was 15.6 weeks. While this is still above the service level agreement target of 10 weeks, significant progress has been made since last August, when the estimated wait time was 34 weeks in Cavan and 30.4 weeks nationally.

The National Driver Testing Service is currently facing unprecedented demand, with the number of tests delivered rising by over 33% year-on-year. Progress in reducing wait times has been achieved primarily through the sanctioning of 75 additional driver tester posts by my Department last March, with the first additional testers entering active service last September. The RSA currently has sanction to employ up to 205 driver testers in total, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned posts in June 2022.

I recognise the challenges that excessive waiting times are imposing on people throughout the country and I welcome the Road Safety Authority's commitment to restoring average wait times to target as soon as possible. My officials are working closely with the Authority to support progress towards this goal not received within 10 days.