Driving test backlog reaches new high: Check the latest waiting time in your area
Data from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal that more than 83,000 applicants were waiting for a driving test in April – the highest number recorded since the pandemic.
Advertisement
The backlog was 58,860 in April 2024 and reached 72,414 in January this year, before hitting a record 83,486 applicants last month.
Waiting times have also worsened significantly this year – the estimated wait for a driving test nationally in April was 27.3 weeks, or between 6-7 months, according to the RSA.
In April last year the wait time nationally was 14.9 weeks.
The RSA aims to give applicants a test within 10 to 12 weeks of applying, but the last time it was within target nationally was almost three years ago in July 2022.
Advertisement
The wait for learner drivers in April varied significantly depending on the test centre, though all locations had at least a five-month wait.
Navan and Tallaght had the longest wait times out of all the State's driving test centres, with applicants waiting an estimated 43 weeks.
Galway's Carnmore test centre was the location with the next longest wait, estimated at 42 weeks.
The centres in Clifden, Tralee and Gorey had the shortest queue time last month – but applicants still faced a 21-week wait for a driving test.
Advertisement
The new figures also reveal that waiting times have got significantly longer over the past year at all of the 60 test centres in the country.
Learner drivers applying for a test in Limerick's Woodview centre had a nine-week wait in April last year. By this year that had rocketed to an estimated 31-week wait.
The picture is similar across the country, with several test centres recording their longest-ever wait times in April.
Driving tests have moved up the political agenda in recent months, with Minister of State Seán Canney saying that "all options" are under consideration to address the backlog.
Advertisement
"The service is not right and it needs to be rectified," he told the Dáil last week.
Ireland
RSA need to get act together to tackle driving tes...
Read More
Mr Canney said he had instructed the RSA to review its plan to get test times down to 10 weeks and "identify further measures that will bring forward the date for achieving the target".
The newly appointed chairman of the Oireachtas transport committee, Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy, said he was seeking an early meeting with the RSA "to allow them to outline what they are doing to tackle growing waiting lists for driving tests".
The RSA has said a record number of tests took place last year, with 253,850 carried out, up from 196,853 in 2023.
The authority has also begun to recruit more testers in order to bring waiting lists down by the end of the year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Dunne wins at wet Spa to reclaim F2 title lead
Ireland's Alex Dunne has returned to the top of the Formula 2 standings by winning the rain-hit feature race in had qualified on pole position at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday and the race was started behind the safety when racing got underway the McLaren Development Driver mastered the wet conditions to win his third F2 race of the Red Bull Junior driver Arvid Lindblad was second and Czech driver Roman Stanek was 19, now leads the F2 standings by points 15 over Richard Verschoor, who failed to score along with title rival Jak Crawford."I had to work really hard for that one," said Dunne."It was really tough." It had been a weekend of dominance for Dunne in Belgium, who topped the practice session and qualified on pole in dry conditions by 0.421 gained two points of Verschoor for pole position and chipped another two points out of the Dutch driver's lead by finishing seventh in the reverse grid sprint hit the Belgian circuit on Sunday morning, to the extent the Formula 3 race had to be cancelled, but conditions cleared up to allow the F2 race to get under way behind the safety pulled out a four-second lead once racing started and, despite a brief challenge from Japan's Ritomo Miyata, he maintained his lead for the mid-race pit Rodin Motorsport team produced a fast pit stop to get him back into the race in fourth place, behind drivers who had yet to then produced a stunning overtake around the outside of Pouhon bend past Ollie Goethe to re-take the lead and pulled away from Stanek and was a late safety car for Sebastian Montoya, who spun at Eau Rouge with five laps Colombian's car was still being recovered when Goethe's engine expired with two laps to go, which meant race control red flagged the race and Dunne was able to take the chequered flag was a third feature win of the season for Dunne in his most complete Formula 2 weekend to date and he was rewarded with the championship 11th round of 14 takes place in Hungary next weekend.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Static speed camera to be operational in Crumlin from August 1st
A static safety camera will be operational in Dolphin's Barn, Crumlin, Dublin 12, from Friday, August 1st Vehicles detected driving in excess of the posted speed limit will be subject to prosecution from 12 midday on Friday. Advertisement Prosecution of speeding offences takes place by Fixed Charge Notice (FCN). The current Fixed Charge Notice is a €160 fine accompanied by three penalty points. Gardaí said Dolphin's Barn was identified as part of a wider national analysis as being a road which could benefit from the implementation of a safety camera. The location was selected based on fatal and serious injury collision data from the last seven years and speed data, as well as feedback from stakeholders.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Budget move could raise taxes on high-emissions cars and vans
A 1 per cent increase in the higher rates of Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) is one of the Budget options outlined by the Department of Finance's Tax Strategy Group (TSG) in its latest papers. It says that if applied across the upper VRT bands – 11 to 20 – covering the price of new and imported used cars, it 'would affect only cars with above-average emissions' and could raise €28 million based on 2024 registrations. Advertisement The group also suggests increasing the NOx surcharge on new and imported cars by €5 per mg/km, potentially generating another €15.5 million. On Benefit-in-Kind tax (BIK), the paper proposes creating a new zero-emissions category, with rates ranging between 6 and 15 per cent, depending on annual business mileage. A higher VRT rate of 15 per cent is also suggested for vans and light commercial vehicles emitting more than 260g/km of CO2. This would sit above the recently introduced two-band emissions-based VRT system, where the top rate currently stands at 13.3 per cent for vehicles over 120g/km. The TSG notes that future reforms could include emissions-based BIK rates for vans, potentially retaining the current 8 per cent rate for low-emission models, with higher rates for those over a certain CO2 threshold. Advertisement The latest TSG paper revises a proposal made last year on an additional VRT surcharge based on a vehicle's weight. Modelled on a system currently operated in France and Norway, an additional charge would be imposed on vehicles above a certain weight threshold, with various potential reliefs for the likes of fully-electric or hybrid models. The TSG states: 'It is well documented that the scale of the proposed electrification of the national fleet will entail significant revenue risk, with the growth in EVs expected to erode Exchequer receipts from motor tax, VRT, VAT and fuel excise, particularly if the current tax structures remain unchanged.' It estimates that revenue from taxes on fossil fuel use and related transport will fall by €1 billion by 2030, down from €5.3 billion in 2022.
