Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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362. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current wait times for driving tests in each test centre in Galway city and county; the number of people on waiting lists for driving tests in each test centre in Galway city and county; his Department’s plans to address long waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18596/25]

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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365. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of applicants currently awaiting an appointment to undertake the driving test at the Carnmore, Clybaun and Clifden test centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18698/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 365 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 such, the information requested relating to Galway is held by the Authority.

I have referred the Deputies' questions to the RSA for direct, detailed reply and I would ask the Deputies 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 are far in excess of what is acceptable and I would like to assure the Deputies 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 later 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 Deputies 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: data.cso.ie/product/RSADTS.