It will take a year at least for driving-test waiting times reach the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) 10-week target because of the impact from Covid-19, it has emerged.
Prior to the pandemic the average time from application to test was six weeks but this rose sharply to between 25 and 30 weeks after testing was stopped in March during the first coronavirus lockdown.
It resumed on a gradual basis in mid-July when essential workers were prioritised, but the waiting list has grown.
Last week RSA chairwoman Liz O’Donnell told the Oireachtas transport committee that “it will take time” to reduce waiting times to a 10-week average.
But Minister of State at the Department of Local Government Malcolm Noonan confirmed that early 2022 is the soonest that target will be reached.
Mr Noonan said in the Seanad that the “RSA has presented a plan to the Department of Transport which would see a return to a 10-week waiting time by early 2022 . . . while this is not as soon as anyone would like, it is important to recognise that there are no quick fixes.”
And he warned that the target date could be negatively affected “if a further lockdown proves to be necessary in the future”. New applications for tests are continuously being submitted which is also contributing to delays.
Since July the RSA has been conducting 3,500 tests a week or 35,000 in total and 64,500 people are scheduled or eligible to take the test.
Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne, who raised the issue, said "a person would be quicker, and more likely, to get the Covid vaccine than a driver test" because anyone applying will have to wait until July.
The Wexford Senator said it affects people living in rural areas particularly because of the lack of public transport. And young provisional drivers have to rely on a parent or guardian because they are not permitted to drive unaccompanied.
Temporary testers
Their insurance costs more too and if a person is offered a job that depends on having a full licence “they can’t get a full licence because they can’t get a test”. He said this had to be prioritised because of the levels of youth unemployment “coming out of this crisis”.
The RSA has applied to the department to recruit an additional 80 driving testers and Mr Byrne asked when they would be in place.
The Minister said 18 temporary driving testers whose contracts were due to expire in October and November have been retained and the RSA has also rehired a further 18 temporary testers whose contracts expired in May. However, Mr Noonan pointed out that much of the delay is “down to the effect of restrictions on the throughput of centres themselves rather than the availability of staff”.
He said the RSA is also looking at whether drivers can increase the number of tests they conduct from the current six to seven but that will not happen until next month at the earliest.
In normal times drivers conduct eight tests daily but this went down to five when the service resumed in July because of health constraints, although increased to six in mid-September.
