Ministers welcome 11-week reduction in waiting times for Driving Tests
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, Séan Canney, have welcomed a reduction of eleven weeks in the waiting time for a driving test. The average waiting time across the country now stands at just over 16 weeks, down from 27 weeks at the end of April.
On 1 May Minister Canney instructed the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to put a plan in place to bring waiting times back to acceptable levels, and to report every two weeks on progress towards this goal. The RSA report for the week ending 28 June shows that the average wait time had reduced to just over 16 weeks, ahead of the 18-week target for end-June agreed between the RSA and Minister Canney. The goal remains to reduce the waiting time to a maximum of ten weeks by September 2025.
The report also showed that 18 additional testers will begin conducting driving tests this week, followed by a further 12 in two weeks’ time. This additional capacity means that progress should continue or further accelerate over the summer months. The RSA expects to have its full sanction of 200 driver testers in place by September.
“This is a substantial reduction in driving test waiting times since the high of 27 weeks at the end of April. I welcome the engagement of Minister Canney with the RSA on this issue, and the benefit it has brought to those most affected by long waiting times.”
Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien
“I am happy to see this positive progress towards reducing driving test waiting times. I am acutely aware of the frustration felt by those eager to sit their tests, and remain determined that we return to the maximum ten-week waiting time as soon as possible.
“This report shows that we are making headway towards the target. I thank the testers, support staff and the team at the RSA for the hard work it has taken to get to this point, and I look forward to further meaningful progress.”
Minister of State with responsibility 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 of 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.
At the end of April 2025, the national average waiting time for an invitation to book a driver test stood at 27 weeks. There are variations in the average across test centres nationwide. As of end June 2025, the national average waiting time is 16.3 weeks.
The agreed target for the driver testing service is an average wait period nationwide of 10 weeks or less. The RSA publish 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: https://data.cso.ie/product/RSADTS.