The average waiting time for driving test has fallen by more than a half, according to the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Mr Molloy.
The Department today released figures showing the waiting list has fallen from 102,000 in May 1999 to 49,200 by the start of this month, with waiting times for tests in Dublin and Cork under 10 weeks.
The Minister says despite an increase of 64,000 people seeking tests in 2001 compared to 1997, the recruitment of 50 extra testers over the past three years has reduced the backlog in people awaiting a test.
"We put in place a number of productivity arrangements which have made substantial inroads into the backlog despite increasing levels of applications," Mr Molloy said.
"We now have the capacity to conduct in excess of 200,000 standard tests annually," he added.