Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2023
179. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Transport if additional testers have been allocated to deal with the backlog of people awaiting driving tests; if he will provide an update on applications (details supplied), and if he is aware the delays are causing extreme hardships to people on apprenticeships who require cars to travel to work. [46606/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. This includes the deployment of driver testing staff and the status of applications.
As such, I have referred aspects of the question to the RSA for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.
On the broader issue of delays, the service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which has increased by 28% compared with 2021 figures. The Authority is currently providing an average of 4,000 tests per week, up 25% on this time last year.
Anticipating these pressures, earlier this year the Authority reviewed the capacity of the service and, following a request for additional resources, my Department gave approval for the 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 underway and I have been advised that the first tranche of new recruits were deployed in September. It is expected that before the end of the year there will be a net increase of 42 driver testers and they will be allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests.
The RSA estimate that the agreed service level of average wait times of 10 weeks will resume in mid-2024.
