One year to cut driving test wait times to 10 weeks

Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers has described the current waiting time for the driving test as 'completely unacceptable'. 

It will take 12 months for driving test waiting times to be reduced from the current wait of up to 21 weeks to 10 weeks, the Department of Transport has admitted.

Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers has announced an additional 75 driving testers are to be recruited by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to combat an “unprecedented” backlog.

However, the department noted that with the 75 additional testers, the RSA do not expect the waiting times to be back to target levels until the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Describing the current waiting time as “completely unacceptable”, Mr Chambers said too many motorists are “in limbo and waiting for too long to receive a test”.

The 75 new testers will be in place by October following a three-month recruitment process as well as a two-month training period, according to Mr Chambers.

The minister said: “I think we will see significant progress between October and the end of the year." However, he added: "It’ll be early next year when we get back to a 10-week waiting time”.

This follows the hiring of 30 additional testers who were previously who have been fully deployed since end of March 2023.

Mr Chambers said the hiring of an additional 30 testers “wasn’t enough”, with more than 4,200 tests per week currently being carried out, up from 3,000 per week towards the end of last year.

He said more than 6,000 tests would be carried out each week by the end of the year, following the increase in testers.

A department spokesperson said the hiring will bring the potential total number of testers to over 200 and address the current backlog in the Driver Testing Service.

“Customers will see improvements in their waiting times and the RSA expect the backlog of applicants to be returned to target customer service levels by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

“Demand for driving tests is now at unprecedented levels, applications in 2022 were 28% higher than 2021 levels and 27% up on 2018 pre covid pandemic levels,” they said.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the backlog has arisen due to “unprecedented demand” in the driver testing service.

“These additional testers will enable the RSA to begin reversing the growing backlog. It is important to recognise that there are no quick fixes or easy solutions, but my Department will continue to keep the situation under review,” he said.

NCTs

In terms of the NCT, Mr Chambers said the Government was “trying” to apply penalties to the provider Applus+ due to the current waiting time of about 30 days, despite having a target of 12 days on average.

“Applus+ are expected to provide that service and haven’t provided the level or standard of service that I expect as minister and that’s why contract penalties are being applied,” he said.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Chambers said he expected to see a “significant” reduction in the NCT wait times — down to 12 days by the end of June.

He said there had been difficulty in recruiting mechanics, and that an additional 55 mechanics from outside the European Union should be in place by the end of this month, noting a European-wide shortage of mechanics.

Road deaths

Meanwhile, Mr Chambers said the trend of increased road deaths was of “serious concern” and noted the Government was renewing efforts to combat the rise in deaths on Irish roads.

Some 51 people have died on Irish roads this year, an increase of five from the same period in 2022. Mr Chambers said a review on speed limits would be considered in the coming weeks.

He described Monday's fatal road accident in Galway, which claimed the lives of two 14-year-olds as “devastating” and “an unspeakable tragedy” 

“There have been too many lives lost again this year and it’s something that we’re absolutely prioritising,” he said.

Mr Chambers said speeding as well as an increase in driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and the non-use of seatbelts had played a key part in the rise in deaths.

“Speeding has played a key role and we have a review on speed limits which will be presented to me in the next number of weeks.

“We’ll be renewing our efforts with An Garda Síochána and the other key agencies to ensure that we strengthen enforcement, make progress on the speeding review and increase the campaigns to ensure that people are aware of the serious issues that arise from speeding and other issues on our roads,” he said.