The Minister for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports, Séan Canney, has instructed the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to get its finger out and reduce the backlog of driving tests.
How bad is the backlog of tests?
According to The Irish Times, the wait for a driving test is now stretching out to as long as ten months, depending on which driving test centre you're booked at. While the RSA has previously had a target of no more than a ten week wait for a driving test, the current average waiting time stands at a massive 24 weeks - up from an average of 15 weeks a year ago.
So, what's being done to fix this?
Well… not a lot, really. The Department of Transport has “sanctioned an additional 70 permanent positions for driver testers”, which means that the total number of permanent testers rises to 200, which is double the figure of 2022.
However, that sanction was approved in late 2024, and since then the situation has become worse. Following a meeting between the Minister and the RSA at Government Buildings, 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 ten-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.”
So… again, what's being done?
So… again, not very much. Instructing the RSA to 'do something' isn't really going to be very effective as the RSA - having been roundly castigated for failing to live up to its targets across all of its responsibilities, not least in terms of road safety - is in the process of being broken up into two separate entities. Equally, saying that more testers can be recruited is a long way away from actually recruiting and training those extra testers.
Pardon me while I twiddle my thumbs…
Yeah, you might as well because the Government seems hell-bent on doing its usual thing of blaming institutional failure on individuals - the primary blame for the delays is currently being laid at the feet of those who book tests but don't turn up for them, rather than the system being under-resourced in the first place.