AQW 17706/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 21/04/2021
Answered On Date: 07/05/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for her assessement of what role the introduction of lateral flow testing for examiners and candidates could have in accelerating the reduction of the backlog in driving tests.

Answer:

I am advised that officials from the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) reviewed the criteria supplied by the Department of Health for the selection of organisations and services that would benefit from the rollout of an Asymptomatic Testing Programme for Covid-19, including the use of Lateral Flow Tests with the general public who would be in close contact with DVA staff attending a driving or MOT test.

After careful consideration the DVA decided that it would not be practical to include driving examiners and driving test candidates within this scheme as it would inevitably result in fewer tests being conducted each day and, as a consequence, increase waiting times for driving tests.

The DVA will continue to deliver driving tests in adherence with its risk assessments to ensure the necessary Covid-19 controls are implemented throughout the testing process. The appropriate mitigations proposed by the DVA went through the Executive taskforce process which included advice from the Department of Health, to enable driving tests to resume on 23 April 2021. I remain committed to minimising disruption and ensuring the DVA’s plan for the restoration of services is in hand, and most importantly to protecting the lives of staff and customers during this pandemic.