Minister slams 'unacceptable' wait times for driving test as Irish learners wait up to 27 weeks

Transport Minister Sean Canney has put pressure on the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to publish and deliver on their plan to address Driver Testing delays, following a meeting with RSA Chief Executive Sam Waide this week.

Unacceptable wait times for tests has become a bugbear across Ireland in recent years as the national average wait time is now a whopping 27 weeks.

Minister Canney instructed the RSA to bring forward new measures to address the unacceptable waits for tests faced by those learning to drive.

"The provision of a timely and efficient driver testing service is a key priority for me. The experience of learner drivers seeking a driver test over the last number of years has been unacceptable and the service being offered needs to be greatly improved as soon as possible", said Minister Canney.

The driver testing service is the statutory responsibility of the RSA and is run independently from the Department of Transport by the RSA.

To support the RSA in increasing testing capacity and improving service delivery, in September 2024 the Department sanctioned an additional 70 permanent positions for driver testers. The first tranche of new testers has been deployed into service. Additional testers will enter the system over the coming months.

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The average national wait for a driving test is currently 27 weeks. The RSA has committed to Minister Canney that this will be reduced to 22 weeks by end May, to 18 weeks at end June and that the service will be returned to the target average wait of 10 weeks by early September at the latest.

The RSA was instructed by Minister Canney at today’s meeting to publish their plan next week, showing their projections of average wait time and numbers of tests to be carried out on a fortnightly basis to end 2025.

The Minister further instructed the RSA to report publicly and to him fortnightly on delivery of their plan, with any deviations from projected timelines to be immediately addressed with the Department of Transport.

While the proposed timeline from the RSA is an improvement, Minister Canney has instructed the RSA to make contingency preparations to bring in additional resources to provide for further testing capacity, should it become clear the RSA timelines will not be met.

These plans need to be ready to be activated quickly should the need arise. The plans are to be developed in collaboration with the existing driver testers and their representative bodies.

Speaking on the RSA plan, Minister Canney said: "

"I welcome the RSA plan to bring wait times down to 10 weeks by no later than early September and I expect the RSA to fully deliver on this commitment.

"There can be no deviation from this timeline and I have instructed the RSA to ensure contingency plans and remedial measures are in place and ready to deploy to ensure that no slippage occurs.

"I have also instructed the RSA to publish their plan, progress reports, projected wait times and driver tester numbers by centre to ensure that the public is fully informed of the progress being made."