Minister Canney instructs the Road Safety Authority to address Driver Testing delays
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From: Department of Transport
- Published on: 1 May 2025
- Last updated on: 1 May 2025
Minister for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports, Séan Canney, met with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) leadership in the Department of Transport today (1 May). The meeting focused on the need to reduce the current waiting times for driving tests, which are far in excess of what is acceptable.
The driver testing service is the statutory responsibility of the RSA under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006. 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. This increases the total permanent sanction for testers to 200, which represents a doubling of permanent posts since June 2022.
The recruitment process is underway, with the first tranche of new testers being deployed into service around now. 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 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. This was deemed not acceptable given the level of delays already being suffered by learner drivers.
Minister Canney has instructed the RSA to review the plan and identify further measures that will bring forward the date for achieving the target. Minister Canney will meet with the RSA in two weeks’ time to ensure the Authority makes progress. The RSA leadership have given their assurance to Minister Canney that service will be restored to the target level in a reasonable time.
"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. I have instructed the RSA to return in two weeks with sustainable proposals which will provide a faster resumption to the service level agreement. People deserve a National Driver Testing Service that they can rely upon, and I will continue to hold the RSA to account until we see meaningful progress."
Minister for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports, Séan Canney
Notes
Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. The Minister for Transport’s only direct role in driver testing is to consider requests from the RSA for recruitment of driver tests and to sanction increases in headcount, where supported by evidenced-based business cases. All testers are employed directly by the RSA and their assignment to driving test centres are determined by the RSA.
Since September 2024, the RSA has sanction to employ 200 driver testers on permanent contracts. Currently, 140 testers are employed and following a competitive recruitment campaign in late 2024, this is expected to rise to 200 by November 2025. These additional testers are being assigned to test centres nationwide as the candidates complete their training.
At present (April 2025), the national average waiting time for an invitation to book a driver test stands at 25 weeks. This is up from 24 weeks in March. There are variations in the average across test centres nationwide.
The agreed target for the driver testing service is an average wait period nationwide of 10 weeks or less. The RSA publishes detailed monthly information on the driver testing service on the CSO website, including the breakdown of waiting times and distribution of testing capacity by test centre. This information is available at the following link: https://data.cso.ie/product/RSADTS.