Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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24. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to urgently address the unacceptable average waiting time for a driver test appointment of 27 weeks (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26099/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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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.

I acknowledge that current waiting times for driving tests are far in excess of what is acceptable and I would like to assure the Deputy that this is a priority issue for me and that measures are being taken to return the service to the agreed 10 week waiting period.

Over the last few weeks I have engaged extensively with the RSA on this issue and I have instructed the Authority to publish its plan later this week to restore the 10 week wait period by September. I have further instructed the RSA to develop appropriate contingency plans and remedial measures that can be deployed to ensure that there is no slippage to this timeline.

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.

The recruitment process is underway, with the first tranche of new testers deployed into service. As additional testers enter the system, testing capacity will increase and progress should be seen on reducing waiting times in the months ahead.

While the long-term fix to this issue will be the recruitment and onboarding of new driver testers in the months ahead, the RSA has put in place other immediate measures to try to alleviate the current pressures in the system. The Deputy may wish to note that 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.

The driver testing booking system has also been updated to allow for any unused test slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. This change to the system has brought the percentage of testing slots utilised up to 98%, having historically averaged around 95%. The RSA makes these appointments available for candidates to book on the MyRoadSafety portal and I would encourage learner drivers awaiting a test to monitor this channel which may provide an opportunity to book an earlier testing date.