Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
295. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Transport the target waiting times that apply specifically to commercial driving tests; whether these targets are being met; and if not, the corrective measures being planned. [5243/26]
View answerUnder the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. Neither I nor my officials are involved in the service at an operational level. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, 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.
Pending this more detailed response, the operational target average wait time for a non-Category B test, which includes commercial driving tests in Categories C and D, is 10 weeks. The latest figures provided to me by the RSA indicate that as at the end of December 2025 the national average wait time for a truck or bus driving test was approximately 10.6 weeks, which marked a substantial reduction on the 16 week average wait time as at the end of July 2025.
This reduction was achieved by the training and onboarding of additional testers last year, after my Department issued sanction in September 2024 to increase the permanent driving tester headcount from 130 to 200. With this increased capacity permanently embedded in the system going forward, the RSA is capable of conducting a greater volume of tests for all categories of vehicles, including HGVs, each year.
