Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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160. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress his Department has made with the Road Safety Authority to shorten the waiting lists for driving tests; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Dún Laoghaire/ Deansgrange test centre has one of the longest average wait times in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62395/25]

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, including all testing and scheduling matters. In that regard, the operation of the driver testing service does not fall under the direct control of my Department. In relation to operational matters regarding the wait times at the Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange test centre, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct response. Please contact my office if a reply is not received within ten days.

As the Deputy will be aware, reducing driving test wait times has been one of my priorities since taking office and I directed the RSA to produce and publish a service recovery plan to meet the 10-week average national waiting time target by September. The RSA successfully achieved this goal and marked a return to the 10-week Service Level Agreement (SLA) in early September. The latest information available to me is that, currently, the average national waiting time for a driving test is 11.5 weeks. This slight increase above target is a short-term impact as a result of merging the test and re-test lists to ensure that all customers have the same experience when utilising the RSA self service system. The RSA anticipates that this change will have worked through the system in the coming weeks and that the 10-week target will be met at the end of November. The current national average wait time does however reflect a significant improvement on the 27-week wait time reported at the end of April.

While the national average wait time has been reduced I do understand that some centres continue to have a higher wait time and I am aware that the Dun Laoghaire/Deansgrange test centre has a longer waiting time than the national average. The RSA has confirmed that the location for the new South Dublin test centre is Sandyford. The RSA is aiming to get this test centre up and running as soon as is operationally possible and this is expected to have a positive impact on wait times in nearby centres. While the site is not yet operational, the assigned testers are already deployed to nearby centres in readiness for its opening, ensuring testing volumes continue to be managed effectively.

In addition, the driver testing booking system now makes available cancelled test slots for candidates to take up at short notice. I would encourage learner drivers awaiting a test to monitor this channel, which may provide an opportunity to book an earlier testing date.