MORE THAN 13,000 people are on driving test waiting lists in the Tallaght test centre, the highest figure in the country.

And while the RSA aims to have driving test wait times of 10 weeks, the average waiting time in Tallaght is 27 weeks, where 13,567 learner drivers were on a waiting list as of 31 January.

This figure of 13,567 includes people who are waiting for an invitation to sit their test or have had their application paused.

Nationwide, this figure is 126,115.

Meanwhile, the estimated wait for a person who submits an application to sit a driving test is at its longest at the Navan test centre, clocking in at 35 weeks.

“No one should be waiting over half a year for their driving test,” said Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward.

He said such waiting times are “totally unacceptable” and cause “great frustration”.

“They push up the costs of learning to drive and trap learner drivers in expensive insurance policies,” said Ward, who added that for some, learning to drive now costs over €3,000.

He added that the backlog can also result in disruptions to other “vital services, as students or workers who rely on their licence are waiting in limbo”.

“For example, there have been delays to the recruitment of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus drivers, as well as to paramedics as they require a licence to start their course,” said Ward.

He also voiced concern that there are not enough permanent driving testers.

Sinn Féin tabled a motion in the Dáil this evening calling on the government to “match the increased demand for driving tests with appropriate resources”.

“This means ending the over-reliance on temporary driving testers and expediting the recruitment of permanent instructors,” said Ward.

Ward further stated that the “unsatisfactory performance of the RSA can’t be ignored” and that Sinn Féin is “calling for an urgent review of the mandate, resourcing and programme of work”.

Sinn Féin called on the government to “once and for all identify all the gaps in driving test centre locations and mandate the RSA and the OPW to fill them”.

“The deepening crisis requires the political will, ambition and resourcing to solve it,” said Ward.

In response to the Sinn Féin motion, Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien said he “acknowledged the concerns that had been raised”.

He added that waiting times are “unquestionably” too long and that the public needs a “dependable service”.

He confirmed that the government won’t oppose the motion and said the “current waiting times are far in excess of what is acceptable”.

However, O’Brien said measures have been taken to address the issue and that progress should be seen in the coming months.

O’Brien 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”.

He said the RSA needs to deliver on a ten-week waiting time and that “it has been trending in the wrong direction”.

O’Brien said the increased waiting times are the result of “increased demand and population growth”.

He added that last year was the “busiest year in the history of the service” with the RSA receiving “just under 275,000 new driving test applications”, which was 10% above the RSA’s projections.

O’Brien also 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 pointed to the Covid pandemic as being part of the reason behind the backlog and said that will liaise with the RSA on delivering new testing centres.