The average waiting time for a driving test has hit the 10-week target before the September 1st deadline set by Minister of State for Transport Sean Canney, but the number of no-shows increased again after starting to fall earlier in the year.
Following years of continuously increasing waiting times the average is now down to 9.57 weeks, according to figures compiled by campaign group Parc from Road Safety Authority (RSA) data for car drivers.
In some cases, learners have had to wait up to a year for their test and while the average is now below 10 weeks, candidates in Tallaght, Co Dublin, still have to wait 15 weeks for their test based on the latest figures. The Tallaght test centre has, however, shown the largest drop of 21 weeks in waiting time, from 36 at the end of May to 15 currently.
Charlestown, Co Dublin, is the one test centre where waiting times have increased, from nine to 17 weeks, the longest wait of any test centre. The overall average waiting time in Dublin city and county, including all eight test centres, is now 12 weeks.
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Counties Sligo and Roscommon have the shortest average waiting time at six weeks, followed by Co Kilkenny at seven weeks. Counties Carlow, Tipperary and Westmeath are next on eight weeks. Counties Donegal, Meath and Monaghan have a current average waiting times of nine weeks, while candidates in counties Limerick, Mayo and Offaly will wait an average of two-and-a-half months, or 10 weeks.
Waiting times are the average number of weeks before a candidate is invited to apply for a test date, which can then be an additional two to five weeks.
The number of learners, however, who do not cancel their test but fail to show up for their appointment increased to a record 699 for June this year, compared to 666 in the same month last year and 535 in 2023.
Chair of Parc road safety group Susan Gray urged the Minister to act on his promise that once waiting times hit 10 weeks, he would implement a ban on learner drivers applying for multiple permits but not sitting the test.
Tuam-based Mr Canney, in an interview last month with the Connacht Tribune, said there were learner drivers who have had 14 learner permits without ever taking a test. He said he wanted to introduce a “three strikes and you’re off the road” and promised that once the 10-week average waiting time target was met, “the regulation will come in, maybe as early as September 1st”.
Ms Gray, who has been campaigning on road safety for almost 20 years, said: “Look what the RSA can do in three months on Minister Sean Canney’s instructions when it has been part of their strategy since 2013 to get waiting times down to an average of 10 weeks.”
The 699 no-shows in June alone resulted in income for the RSA of €59,415 which the authority retains, from the €85 from each applicant. In the first six months of this year the fee income from no-shows totalled €316,965, from 3,729 candidates who did not show for their test.
A candidate who sits the test and fails can renew their permit for two years but a no-show must apply annually.
Ms Gray expressed concern about the no-shows, despite the increased number of testers.
She cited Wilton test centre in Cork, which has five extra testers but 42 no-shows in June alone. This represented, based on a 40-hour week, “one of those additional testers not carrying out any tests for a week”.
Fine Gael TD Emer Currie said the commitment to close the no-show “loophole” needs to be addressed urgently.
“Get those learner drivers to present for tests they are currently wasting, address the inefficiency in our testing system and make our roads safer sooner rather than later.”
