Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. Consequently, the detailed information requested is held by that agency. I have referred that part of the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct reply.
I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.
There are no plans to outsource the driver testing service. Previously, the backlog in the service has been alleviated by recruiting additional driver testers, such that the supply of services required meets demand. As recently as last year, my Department sanctioned the recruitment of 30 additional permanent driver testers.
I acknowledge that the service continues to suffer under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which has increased by 28% compared with 2021 figures. In response to these pressures, the Authority reviewed the capacity of the driver testing service again and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval for further recruitment of up to 75 additional driver testers. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.
This recruitment is well underway and being managed by the Authority. However, a recruitment campaign of this size takes time. It is expected that once these additional driver testers are trained and deployed, the backlog for driver testing services will be actively managed such that agreed service levels resume and wait times begin to decline. I have been advised by the Authority that the first newly recruited testers should be deployed in late September.
The additional driver testers will be allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on the geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.
