Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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510. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of driving testers in Kilkenny driving test centre; the current wait time for a test in Kilkenny; the number of applicants waiting to complete their driving test in Kilkenny; when it is estimated waiting times will be restored to ten weeks in Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20710/25]

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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511. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of driving testers in Carlow driving test centre; the current wait time for a test in Carlow; the number of applicants waiting to complete their driving test in Carlow; when it is estimated waiting times will be restored to ten weeks in Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20711/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 510 and 511 together.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service, as such, the information specific to Carlow and Kilkenny is held by the Authority. I have referred the Deputy's questions to the RSA for direct, detailed reply and I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

Pending this more detailed response, I acknowledge that current waiting times nationally 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 being deployed into service 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.

The Deputy may wish to know that the driver testing booking system has been updated to allow for any unused test slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. The RSA now make these appointments available for candidates to book on the MyRoadSafety portal.

In addition, driver testing is offered on Saturdays where driver testers are available to do overtime and there are also additional morning and evening test slots offered where daylight allows. This has been the case since the current backlog in driving tests started to build up.

Finally, the Deputy may 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: .