Dept of Transport defends low number of tester appointments

The Department of Transport has responded to outcry over the limited number of driving testers appointed last year.

Only 11 new testers were hired out of 2,000 applicants because of a cap on public-sector jobs.

The 11 new driving testers hired last year brought the number of testers in the country to 130.

The Department of Transport said this is a sufficient level to cope with the ongoing demand for driving tests and more testers would have been hired if they were needed.

However, there are still 140,000 people waiting to sit their driving tests.

The department said this backlog is temporary and seven existing civil servants will be drafted in temporarily to deal with the problem.

The Minister for Transport is pushing ahead with plans to outsource 45,000 tests to a private company, and offer cash bonuses for testers to work overtime.