Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the waiting time for driving tests in Castlebar, Ballina, and Tuam; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42775/24]

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 and the information requested is held by that organisation. I have therefore referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct reply. Please contact my office if a response is not received within ten days.

To address the issue of increased testing demand and excessive waiting times for a driving test, the RSA submitted a business case to the Department in June 2024 regarding long-term, permanent staffing needs for the service to cater to current and future demand. The Department conveyed sanction in September for 70 additional driver testing posts on a permanent basis, bringing the permanent sanction to 200 driver testers. This is double the sanctioned permanent headcount in June 2022, which was 100 testers.

As a condition of sanction for these additional resources, my officials have requested that a plan is put in place to restore waiting times to the service level agreement of 10 weeks as soon as possible.

The Deputy may wish to note that a change was made to the test online booking system in October 2023 to allow any unused slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. If a driving test is cancelled at short notice, the RSA now make this appointment available on the MyRoadSafety (www.rsa.ie/online-services/myroadsafety) portal.