Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 April 2025
130. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 210 of 18 February 2025, if the 70 additional permanent positions for driver testers sanctioned by his Department in September 2024 have been filled; the impact this has had on waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18173/25]
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 recruitment of driver testers. I have therefore referred the Deputy’s question to the RSA for direct, detailed reply regarding the current recruitment campaign and I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.
As a condition of sanction for the additional 70 testers, the RSA was required to put a plan in place to restore the 10-week waiting time target as soon as possible. I understand that the recruitment process is well underway, with the first tranche of new testers to enter live testing later this month. As additional testers enter the system, testing capacity will increase and I expect that we will begin to see progress on reducing waiting times in the months ahead.
To alleviate pressure on the service, driver testing is offered on Saturdays where driver testers are available to do overtime and there are also additional morning and evening test slots offered where daylight allows. This has been the case since the current backlog in driving tests started to build up. Sunday overtime is not offered as the RSA need to be mindful of working hours rules and therefore Sunday overtime would not add any additional capacity to the Driver Testing Service.
The Deputy may also wish to know that to further assist with reducing waiting times, a change was made to the booking system to allow any unused test slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. If a driving test is cancelled at short notice, the RSA now make this appointment available to the general public on the MyRoadSafety portal.
