Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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174. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current wait times at driving test centres, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8689/25]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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175. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of driver testers in driving test centres, by county; the number of new recruits being employed in these centres; when the ten-week waiting time standard will be implemented across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8690/25]

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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192. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current wait times at driving test centres across the country, with a specific breakdown for counties Carlow and Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8842/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 174, 175 and 192 together.

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 as well as the recruitment and deployment of driver testers.

Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the questions to the Authority 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 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: .