Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2023-03-29 ============================================================ Leo Varadkar (FG), Dublin West I agree. It is extremely important that people, especially young people, have the freedom a driving licence gives them. That is especially the case in more rural areas where it is much harder to get around if someone does not have a driving licence or a car. My understanding is that there has been a considerable increase in the number of people applying for driving tests. It is approximately 25% or 30% higher than it was pre pandemic. As a result of this, we have hired 25% or 30% more driving testers. A bit like the issue with the work permits and passports, this is kind of a bounce-back effect of the pandemic. We expect to get it under control and to be in a position whereby people can get their tests in a timely manner. I will come back to the Deputy with a bit more detail on what is being done. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-03-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:44+00:00 Sitting date: 2023-03-29