Revealed: The locations you'll wait longest for a driving test

Some 43,466 people are on official waiting lists for driving tests nationally.

Learner drivers are waiting up to 31 weeks before their driving test invitation, with the shortest waiting time to book a practical test now 10 weeks.

As of the start of November, more than 100,000 learner drivers are awaiting a test nationally, with around 15,600 of those having been given a date for their test.

New data provided to Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock through a parliamentary question, shows that some 43,466 people are on official waiting lists for driving tests nationally. 

Another 47,087 driving test applicants had their applications paused after they were issued an invitation to book a test but had not used it within 10 days, while a further 24,000 people had their applications deemed to be ineligible due to reasons including having a learner permit for less than six months or not having completed all mandatory Essential Driver Training.

The figures, which were accurate as of November 3, show that almost 15,000 people were waiting for a test in Dublin alone.

In Cork, 12,735 people were waiting, of which 1581 have been given a date for a test but were yet to sit it, while 3,633 people were waiting for a date. A further 4947 people have had their applications paused and 2574 had their applications deemed not eligible.

In Kerry, out of 3,443 applications, 576 have received a date for their test but were still waiting while 872 people were on waiting lists.

In Limerick, some 5,617 people were waiting for tests, while in Waterford there were 4,322 people waiting. 

Longest waiting time

Drogheda had the longest waiting lists in the country, with an estimated 31 weeks before an invitation to a test would be issued as of November 3.

In Cork’s newest driving tests centre in Togher, the estimated wait before an invitation to a driving test was 20 weeks – significantly longer than Cork’s older test centre in Wilton which had an estimated wait of 12 weeks.

The Togher test centre was one of the new centres brought on stream to clear the backlog in driving tests which became very pronounced over the pandemic.

In Limerick’s Castlemungret centre, applicants face an estimated 26 weeks wait before they are invited to a test; while in Limerick’s Woodview test centre, that drops to 17 weeks. Learner drivers in Clonmel can expect a 16-week wait while Killarney, Mallow, Skibbereen and Waterford all have 12-week waits.

Tralee has one of the lowest wait times in the country at 10 weeks.

Labour TD Seán Sherlock said: “The additional testing sites were to alleviate the backlogs that built up over Covid. However, the figures do not reflect that and have increased.

“We need to interrogate why the number awaiting are so high and why the system has not been able to get these numbers down notwithstanding demographic trends.

"Delays on obtaining a driving test have a particular impact on young people from rural Ireland where public transport connectivity is not present,” Mr Sherlock said.

“It's a matter of gaining independence for those awaiting the test and especially those who work in the medical field as healthcare professionals."