Three driving test centres have reached the waiting time target of 10 weeks or less as 51 of the State’s 57 car test centres showed improved timelines after years of increases.
Carlow town had a waiting time of 10 weeks, while it fell to nine weeks in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim and Tuam in the Galway East constituency of Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures show Dublin had the biggest decrease of 11 weeks. Waiting times in Finglas fell from 25 weeks to 14 while the Maple House, Mulhuddart test centre saw a drop from 22 to 11 weeks.
Improvements varied from 11 weeks to one. Tallaght, Co Dublin has the longest waiting time at 33 weeks or eight months, despite a three-week fall.
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Four centres showed an eight-week decrease, including Letterkenny, Co Donegal where waiting times fell from 21 to 13 weeks; Longford (27 weeks to 19); Sligo (19 weeks to 11); and Wicklow (25 weeks to 17).
Waiting times increased however in Charlestown, Co Dublin from nine weeks to 16, from 18 weeks to 20 in Ennis, Co Clare and by one week in Dungarvan, Co Waterford from 22 weeks to 23.
In May, Mr Canney instructed the RSA to devise a plan to reach the 10-week timeline for all test centres by September after he criticised “unacceptable” delays of up to 10 months.
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Funding was provided for the recruitment of an additional 70 tester drivers.
The changes were calculated from the end of May to end of June when the average waiting time fell from 27 weeks to 18 weeks.
Dún Laoghaire initially saw a drop from 23 weeks to 13 but it rose again by the end of June to 21 weeks. Waiting times fell in Ballina, Co Mayo from 17 weeks to 10 but increased again to 17, showing no change overall.
The figures also revealed 3,030 driving test “no shows” in the first five months of 2025, resulting in the RSA retaining €257,550 in fees from candidates who failed attend for their appointment.
No-show learner drivers can renew their permit annually for a €45 fee so long as they have confirmation that they applied for a test. The RSA received €136,350 in fees for the 3,030 who failed to show for tests between January and May this year. A total of 15,103 learners failed to show for their driving test in 2023 and 2024.
Chair of Parc Susan Gray welcomed the improved waiting times. “It’s really good news that a lot of test centres are moving closer to the 10-week average waiting time.”
The Minister promised following the group’s meeting with him last month that he would commence a “three strikes and you’re off the road” regulation for learner drivers once the 10-week waiting time target was met.
Mr Canney has told media the new regulation could come in as early as September 1st.
Ms Gray said this would mean “learners on their third permit who don’t turn up for their test will not be issued with a fourth and will have to sit the test”, she said.
This has been a serious loophole in the regulations going back to 2013 “where learner drivers can continually renew their permit each year without sitting a driving test”.
In Tallaght there were 227 no-shows in the first five months of this year, about 45 each month.
“That’s the equivalent of a tester sitting twiddling their thumbs for more than a week every month, when they are already being paid to work overtime and weekends,” Ms Gray said.
