Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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249. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the delays for those waiting to take their driving test (details supplied); the reason for these delays; and if his Department will take steps to ensure that waiting times are reduced. [1462/25]

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 all application and scheduling matters. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct, detailed reply. Please contact my private office if a response is not received within ten days.

Pending this detailed response, to address the issue of driver testing waiting times, in September 2024 my Department sanctioned an additional 70 permanent positions for driver testers. This increases the total permanent sanction for driver testers to 200, which represents a doubling of the comparable sanction of 100 posts in June 2022.

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 10 weeks as soon as possible. I understand that recruitment is well underway and additional capacity will enter the service in the coming months, helping to progressively reduce waiting times.