Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2024
161. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Transport the current position in relation to the number of driving testers recruited in 2023 and 2024, those on short term contracts, and whether they will all be retained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12035/24]
View answerUnder the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for all aspects of the National Driver Testing Service. Regarding the driver testing service, in order to meet unprecedented demand and address driver testing delays, last year, 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 205 in 2023, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned testing posts in June 2022. The national average waiting time for invitation to test has been decreasing since last September, when the first tranche of new recruits were deployed. By the end of 2023 there was an increase of 41 driver testers allocated across the driver testing service with a focus on geographical areas with the longest waiting times and highest demand for tests. Sanction remains in place for the Authority to increase the number of testers employed.
My Department is working closely with the Authority to monitor demand and capacity requirements of the driver testing service to ensure it meets the agreed service level of average wait times of 10 weeks, which the Authority expects to achieve by mid-2024. A further exercise is planned to establish the long-term capacity needs of the service, once the current backlog is eliminated.
