Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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235. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason a person (details supplied) is waiting since November 2024 for a retest; if he will expedite a test for the person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6152/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, 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 and neither I nor my department have the power to intervene in individual cases.

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 testers to 200, which represents a doubling of permanent posts since June 2022.

As a condition of sanction, 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.

Regarding the retesting process, I am told that all retest candidates are prioritised and issued an invitation to book a test within 10 weeks of their unsuccessful driving test. However, this will depend upon demand at the selected test centre.

The Deputy may also wish to note that a change was made to the online booking system for the National Car Test in October 2023. Unused test slots are now made available for candidates to take up at short notice. If a driving test is cancelled at short notice, the Authority now make this appointment available on the MyRoadSafety portal.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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236. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps that can be taken to ensure a person (details supplied) can sit their driving test promptly as required for her employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6154/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, 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. Neither I nor my department have the power to intervene in individual cases.

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.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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237. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures he will take to alleviate the backlog of drivers awaiting their driving tests in Shannon; if there are plans to appoint a full-time tester for Shannon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6155/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, 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 and the distribution of driver testers.

Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the 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 testers to 200, which represents a doubling of permanent posts since June 2022.

As a condition of sanction, 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.

The deputy may also wish to note that the RSA publish detailed monthly information on the driver testing service on the CSO website, including the breakdown of waiting times and distribution of testing capacity by test centre. This information is available at the following link: