THE ESTIMATED WAITING time for a driving test in Tallaght in Dublin has hit 35 weeks – over eight months – making it the longest waiting list in the country.

Dún Laoghaire in Dublin has the second-longest waiting time of 34 weeks.

The national average wait time to be invited to a driving test is around 23 weeks, as of the end of February.

This increased slightly in March, according to the RSA, which told The Journal that the national average waiting time for a test in March was 24.1 weeks for a new applicant.

The RSA aims to have driving test wait times of 10 weeks.

Fine Gael TD Barry Ward said the figures show that learner drivers are being “unfairly hindered by the RSA’s inability to reduce driving test wait times”.

“Many applicants have experienced significantly longer wait times than the national average, which is simply unjustifiable,” said Ward.

He said it is “totally unfair” to face “unreasonably long waiting times after paying an application fee”.

Ward said the waiting times are “particularly frustrating as a TD for Dún Laoghaire”, as well as for “people who require a full license for work or to commute”.

He said the excuse of Covid-related delays are “no longer acceptable and there needs to be an urgent intervention from the Department of Transport”.

Ward said he has written to both Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien and to the RSA to request that an “urgent plan is put in place to reduce waiting times” across the State.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin and Dublin Mid-West TD Mark Ward said the waiting times are “more than disappointing at this stage”.

Ward noted that he received figures as of the end of January which showed that the waiting time in Tallaght was 27 weeks.

“It’s now increased and things are going in the complete wrong direction. Something needs to happen as a matter of emergency.”

Ward said that the “statutory maximum for waiting times should be 10 weeks”, a figure no test centre is reaching. Newcastle West comes closest at 15 weeks.

In a statement to The Journal, the RSA said that its driving test service has “experienced unprecedented demand in recent years” and that the number of applications has “increased significantly since 2021″.

Last year, some 253,850 driving tests were conducted, up from 196,853 in 2023, making it a record year.

The RSA also noted that the recruitment campaign for new driver testers will increase the number of permanent testers from 130 to 200 – the 200 figure is expected to be reached in November.

At the end of February, there were 144 permanent testers employed by the RSA, and another group of 13 testers are in the final stages of training and will be deployed to Dublin and Cork, where demand is particularly high, at the end of April.

“As these new recruits join the service, the waiting times will reduce significantly towards the end of the year,” said the RSA spokesperson.

A new test centre on the way 

Mark Ward remarked that in years gone by, there were other test centres in South Dublin “which would have taken some of the pressure off Tallaght”.

But at the moment, Tallaght is the only test centre in South Dublin County Council’s area and Ward said “a lot of people are applying for their driving test there”.

The RSA is planning to open an additional driving test centre in South Dublin.

An RSA spokesperson said it is currently looking for a suitable facility.

“I’m hoping that can happen quickly,” said Ward, “but these things sometimes take longer than they should.”

Ward also noted that in February, Sinn Féin tabled a motion in the Dáil calling on the government to “match the increased demand for driving tests with appropriate resources”.

“Part of that motion called for the RSA to do an audit of all their test centres and to put in place whatever is needed as a matter of urgency, whether that’s new test centres or employing full-time instructors instead of part-time instructors or contracted instructors.

“Things are going in the wrong way and something drastic needs to happen.”

The government didn’t oppose the Sinn Féin motion tabled in February and the Transport Minister acknowledged that “current waiting times are far in excess of what is acceptable”.

O’Brien added that measures had been taken and progress should be seen in the coming months and pointed to the Covid pandemic as being part of the reason behind the backlog.

He noted that 70 additional permanent driving testers were sanctioned in September to help with the driving test backlog but added that the “recruitment campaign takes time”. 

He also said that the operation of driving tests is under the statutory remit of the RSA and that he, as Transport Minister, “is not directly involved in the operation of the service”.