DRIVING test delays are forcing young Limerick drivers to break the law.
That’s according to a statement and figures released by the Irish Road Hauliers Association (IRHA) following information received under a Freedom of Information request to the Road Safety Authority RSA).
The figures show that 842,260 people across Ireland were driving on a provisional license at the end of March this year.
According to the IRHA, during the last quarter of 2023, 65 learner drivers were caught by Gardaí in Limerick without the accompaniment of a fully-licensed driver.
That number rose to 89 in the final three months of last year, figures show, marking a rise of 37 per cent.
Nearby counties Clare and Tipperary saw an increase in that time, going from 91 in the last quarter of 2023 to 80 over the same period in 2024.
Galway, as in Limerick, saw a significant jump, from 79 at the end of 2023 to 107 at the end of 2024 (a 35 per cent increase).
IRHA president Ger Hyland described the numbers as a “scandal” and called for a “root and branch” review of the RSA and their operation of the Irish driving test system.
The IRHA says that an inadequate and backlogged testing regime is forcing young learner drivers out on the roads without a full license or an accompanying fully licensed driver.
Over half of people who sit the test in a car are passing their driving tests according to RSA figures, a pass rate that road hauliers say should be “ringing alarm bells for the Department of Transport”.
Minister for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails, and Ports, Sean Canney, has since met with the RSA to discuss the need to reduce the current waiting times for driving tests.
“To support the RSA in increasing testing capacity and improving service delivery, in September 2024 the Department of Transport sanctioned an additional 70 permanent positions for driver testers,” a statement from the Department of Transport said, confirmed the total of permanent sanctioned testers nationwide as 200.
“As additional testers enter the system, testing capacity will increase and progress should be seen on reducing waiting times in the months ahead.”
As a condition of the sanction given in last September, the RSA was required to put a plan in place to restore the 10-week waiting time target as soon as possible.
When this plan was first put forward by the RSA, it envisaged a return to the target by November 2025.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Canney said “the current delays in the driver testing system are simply not acceptable”.
“I fully understand the frustration being experienced by people right across the country – it is entirely understandable and justified. The RSA has a clear responsibility to meet its target of a 10-week waiting time, and I am determined to see that this happens.”
The Minister said he has “instructed the RSA to return in two weeks with sustainable proposals which will provide a faster resumption to the service level agreement”.
