I have been contacted by so many constituents due to sit theory tests that were repeatedly cancelled and rescheduled. Worse, several constituents have contacted me after having secured a test only to be left waiting at the centre in Carlow on the day without any contact from the testers. One man told me he went to the centre on receipt of an email at the end of May, but when he arrived there was no one there and the phone was unmanned. A month later, he still had no contact. This is unacceptable. Is the Road Safety Authority, RSA, sufficiently resourced? What is being done to tackle this backlog? The Taoiseach is familiar with Carlow. It is a rural county without public transport. If drivers are certified, we are saving money and it allows people to access work opportunities. I know a man who had to turn down a job because he could not get a driver's licence. I am asking the Taoiseach to please step in and try to sort out this issue. It is a national issue, not just one affecting Carlow.

I agree with the Deputy entirely in terms of the importance of this issue. I will certainly investigate what is happening in Carlow in particular. I have been to Carlow on several occasions with the Deputy. The gradual reopening of in-person driver theory tests commenced from approximately 8 June. Essential driver training for essential workers who have not completed their training recommenced on 10 May. Forty new temporary driving testers have been hired and began work at the end of June. Sanction has been granted to recruit a further 40 testers. The RSA reopened test centres and introduced capacity to increase the number of tests from an average of 15,000 tests in normal times to 25,000 tests monthly to tackle the backlog and shorten waiting times. Capacity will gradually increase to 50,000 tests monthly, when public health guidance permits, to clear the backlog. Service providers sourced an additional 40 temporary team members to support that expected increase in capacity to 50,000 in-centre appointments. I will follow through on what is happening in Carlow if there are particular issues there. It is all hands on deck in relation to this very important issue.