Department delays provisional licence crackdown until driver testing system clears backlog

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said that a large number of new driving testers had been hired this year and last to help bring test-waiting times back below the target of 10 weeks. File photo

Plans for a crackdown on motorists who have held provisional licences for years and sometimes decades have been delayed over fears of a knock-on effect on waiting lists for driving tests.

A detailed briefing from the Department of Transport said any dramatic change on how many learner permits a person could hold was likely to lead to “a surge of applications”.