Learner drivers face up to 14-week wait to sit test with 34,000 on waiting list

Driving instructor Ian Daly called on the RSA to take action, saying other counties in Ireland besides Dublin need to be facilitated with more test centres. File picture

Learner drivers in Ireland are facing up to a 14-week wait to sit their driving test, with almost 34,000 people currently on the waiting list.

While nearly 1,400 learner drivers have received an appointment over the next couple of weeks, figures show just under 20,000 people are yet to be scheduled for a test.

Driving instructor Ian Daly from AutomaticLessons.ie said Covid-19 restrictions imposed on driving lessons and tests are still being felt almost two years from the start of the pandemic. 

“Obviously lessons were stopped during Covid and that has had a massive impact on the backlog,” he said.

“So, the RSA employed about 80 new testers, they opened up new test centres, but it is still a very high number.

“They will say they are trying to get through and they are making good progress with it, but it is amazing in such a small country that there is such a demand for people to get their licence and learn to drive so it is always going to be fairly high.” 

While the waiting times for a test vary significantly throughout the country, Mr Daly said the overall backlog was concerning.

The figures, which were released to Newstalk, show the longest wait for a driving test is in Killester, Co Dublin, where the RSA says learners have to wait about 14 weeks.

The shortest wait is in a centre in Loughrea in Co Galway, while five other centres have waiting times of only three weeks.

Mr Daly called on the RSA to take action, saying other counties in Ireland besides Dublin need to be facilitated with more test centres.

“Dublin is fairly densely populated so I think there are enough test centres there but in other areas around the country, there probably isn’t enough centres.

“All they can do is take on more testers and open more test centres. It is just huge demand for such a small country — everybody wants a licence.”

Meanwhile, figures recently revealed which county in Ireland had the highest pass rate.

The test centre in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was found to have a pass rate of 39.5% — the lowest in the country — while Loughrea in Co Galway has the highest pass rate.