Government to crack down on learner drivers 'rolling over' permits without test

Irish Daily Mirror

23-06-2025

The Government will take measures to prevent learner drivers from "rolling over" their learner permits without sitting a driving test.
Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien will soon bring a memo to Cabinet on the Action Plan for the Road Safety Strategy.
The draft memo, seen by the Irish Mirror, stated that the strategy has the "target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50 per cent by 2030" and to achieve "Vision Zero", or as close as possible to no deaths or serious injuries, on Irish roads by 2050.
The plan that will be brought to Cabinet by Minister O'Brien is phase two of the strategy.
The draft report, seen by the Irish Mirror, is divided into seven "priority intervention areas." This includes measures to improve driver behaviour that will increase the safety of all road users.
One action in the report involves plans to "end the practice whereby learner drivers can roll over learner permits without the requirement to sit a test".
Currently, learner drivers must prove that they have sat or booked a test to obtain a third learner permit.
However, ministers have privately expressed concerns to the Irish Mirror that people are applying for the tests to secure their third provisional licence but are not actually turning up to take the test.
No-shows, one minister said, are adding to the issue of long driving test waiting lists, which the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said last week are finally starting to fall.
As of June 14, the average national waiting time for a driving test stood at 18.4 weeks, down from a high of 27 weeks at the end of April.
The plan also suggests that the learning to drive programme should be "enhanced" based on "evidence from international best practice, in tandem with improvements in the driving test".
It also says the Government will develop legislation and a framework for imposing attendance at a "Speed Awareness Course" as a sanction for certain road traffic offences.
The Action Plan states that "education is a key measure in addressing and improving driver behaviour and in achieving better safety outcomes for all road users".
It continues: "While education is important for road users of all ages, the focus of the Strategy is on drivers of the future to instil good behaviours from an early age".
Suggestions in the plan include "considering the potential" to "expand the suite of educational programmes, to bring sustained interventions for individuals from primary school through to third level, to build on the new TY [Transition Year] programme successfully initiated in 2024."
The plan also suggests that the RSA should consider providing TY students with "educational materials relating to the Driver Theory Test."