Michael Healy-Rae
Question:240. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport the status of a driving test for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37222/23]
View answerMonday, 11 September 2023
Questions (240)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driving Test service. This includes test applications and scheduling matters. Neither I nor my Department have the powers to intervene in individual cases.
I would like to assure you that my Department is working closely with the Authority on addressing the driver testing waiting times, which is an issue of great concern across the state.
The Authority has reviewed the demand and capacity of the driver testing service and following a request for additional resources in March 2023, my Department gave approval for the recruitment of up to 75 driver testers. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.
The recruitment is well underway and being managed by the Authority. It is expected that once these additional driver testers are trained and deployed, the backlog for driver testing services will start to reduce from October 2023. The additional testers will be assigned to fill current vacancies and otherwise allocated to centres with the highest demand for tests.
Expedited tests are only available to applicants who are employed by the HSE, a private hospital or the emergency services where the candidate would need to drive as part of their job (not including commuting to their place of work). Information on who can apply for an emergency test is available at: www.rsa.ie/services/learner-drivers/the-driving-test/faqs