To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether her Department will prioritise the resumption of practical driving tests for those who require a driving licence to conduct their jobs.

As part of the phased resumption of practical driving tests, the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) has reinstated a number of driver testing services, where testing can be done safely in line with Public Health Agency advice and guidance on social distancing requirements. This includes motorcycle driver testing from 6 July and tests for drivers of buses, tractors and module 4 CPC tests for lorry, bus and coach drivers from 20 July.

Practical car and lorry driving tests resumed from 1 September 2020, initially prioritising around 200 high priority workers who have previously requested an urgent driving test and were at that time on a waiting list. The DVA is continuing to process requests for high priority workers and these customers will also be offered driving test appointments. Driving tests are also being offered to those customers who had a driving test booked between March and June, but whose tests were cancelled due to the lockdown measures imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The DVA is making good progress in delivering driving tests for these customers and is anticipating a resumption of its normal service delivery from October/ November. I fully appreciate there are many legitimate reasons why customers will want to take their practical driving test at the earliest opportunity, for prioritisation to be effective as I hope you understand, it needs to be focussed and be able to be managed by the DVA. The DVA is planning to reopen bookings for all new customers from 5 October and to increase capacity for driving tests to deal with the likely high demand when normal service resumes. In doing so, this will improve driving tests services for all our customers.