John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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312. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the waiting time for driving tests in Mallow; the actions his Department is taking to reduce the unacceptable waiting time for driving tests in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15627/25]

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.

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, I acknowledge that current waiting times are far in excess of what is acceptable and I would like to assure the Deputy that measures have been taken to address the issue.

To support the RSA in increasing testing capacity and improving service delivery, 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, the RSA was required to put a plan in place to restore the 10-week waiting time target as soon as possible. I understand that the recruitment process is well underway, with the first tranche of new testers having commenced training this month. As additional testers enter the system, testing capacity will increase and I expect that we will begin to see progress on reducing waiting times in the months ahead.

I have been advised by the RSA that the number of testers assigned to Cork is expected to double by the end of April when first tranche of new recruits are fully trained.