Learner drivers face wait until summer 2024 to sit test

The RSA said that the “estimated week of invitation” to sit the test at the centre in Wilton in Cork is the week starting March 18, 2024, while tests at the other Cork centres in Skibbereen and Mallow are available in January.

Progress won’t be made in reducing the backlog for driving tests until October at the earliest, with some applicants now having to wait until next summer to sit their test.

The backlog means learner drivers are being left in limbo until 2024 before they can receive an invitation to book their test. The delay is being blamed on the time it takes for the Road Safety Authority to hire new driving testers after it requested the Department of Transport to sanction further recruitment in March.

Checking the online to tool to estimate how long a person would have to wait to be invited for their driving test, the RSA said that the “estimated week of invitation” to sit the test at the centre in Wilton in Cork is the week starting March 18, 2024.

Once a person receives an invite, they will then be able to select appointment slots over the following three to five weeks. While some centres will have appointments available before the end of the year, applicants for Tallaght in Dublin on the other hand are given an estimate of next April to be invited for their test.

The pressure on Cork is acute, following the closure of St Finbarr’s testing centre. The other Cork centres in Skibbereen and Mallow have shorter estimated times with January signalled on the online portal.

Speaking in the Dáil after the closure of St Finbarr’s, Cork South-West TD Christopher O’Sullivan said younger drivers in particular would miss out due to such long waiting times to get their tests.

“We need to move mountains now for young people more than we ever have,” he said. “And the least we can do at this point is provide them with timely access to driving tests.” 

Waiting times have been exacerbated since the pandemic with department officials meeting with the RSA weekly to monitor progress in reducing the delay and ensure all possible actions are being taken.

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Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers confirmed last week that it would be autumn before progress is made on reducing the driving tests backlog.

In response to a parliamentary question, Mr Chambers said his officials are working closely with the Road Safety Authority on fixing the issues which are “of great concern across the State”.

“The service has been under significant pressure to meet unprecedented demand, which is up 28% on 2021 figures,” he said. After an RSA request in March, the department gave approval for the recruitment of 75 additional testers.

“This is in addition to the 30 testers who were previously sanctioned in July 2022 and which have been fully deployed since the end of March 2023,” he said. “This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to just over 200.” 

However, it will take some time for these additional driving testers to be recruited, trained and deployed. “The backlog for driver testing services will start to reduce from October 2023 and agreed service levels should resume by early to mid-2024,” he said.