Sinn Féin spokesperson on Transport Darren O’Rourke TD today called for more driving testers to be hired to help clear the massive backlog.

Teachta O’Rourke’s comments come as figures provided to him show over 105,000 people are still waiting to sit their test.

The Meath East TD said;

“At the Oireachtas Transport Committee in December, the Chairperson of the RSA, Liz O’Donnell, said; ‘in October the RSA made a submission [to the Department] for the recruitment of 80 extra driver testers, and I am hopeful that that will be approved soon’.

“Almost one year on, figures I’ve received from the RSA show just 37 extra driving testers are now in place.

“This comes at a time when 105,480 people are waiting to sit a driving test across the state. It’s absolutely scandalous.

“The Minister seems to have been asleep at the wheel for most of the past year. He has shown no interest in resolving this issue and has made a bad situation much worse.

“Meanwhile students starting college or employees trying to get to work are facing huge problems without their driving licence.

“It’s predominantly young people affected by these delays, which is having a massive impact on their lives. Young people deserve better.

“Minister Ryan needs to explain why half the driving testers requested by the RSA almost one year ago, are still not in place.

“The Minister needs to increase driving testing and theory testing capacity immediately to clear these waiting lists.

“This should include the fast-track recruitment of staff, longer opening hours, and the establishment of pop-up centres in the areas with the longest waiting lists.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

See below the PQ response to Teachta O’Rourke:
 

Dear Deputy O Rourke,

I refer to Parliamentary Question 41124/21 concerning the number of driver testers employed by the Road Safety Authority. The Minister referred the PQ to this Office and the detail is set out below.

40 driver testers were hired to date in 2021, three have since exited the service. RSA now employ a total of 172 driver testers.

Yours sincerely,

Gemma Dermody

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Click here to view Driving Test application numbers by county.