Figures show 19,200 learner drivers are driving on Mayo roads

The Irish Road Haulage Association has claimed that 19,200 learner drivers are driving on Mayo road with calls for action to reduce waiting times for driving tests.

The Irish Road Haulage Association has accused the Road Safety Authority of mismanaging the organisation's operation of the driving test system.

Figures released to the IRHA under Freedom of Information by the Road Safety Authority show that there were 842,260 learner drivers nationally on our roads at the end of March with 19,200 of those on Mayo’s roads.By comparison, at the end of 2019, there were 233,025 learner drivers on our roads.

The Irish Road Haulage Association President, Ger Hyland, has described it as a scandal and has called for a root and branch review of the Road Safety Authority and their operation of the Irish driving test system.

READ: Kenny honoured and privileged to receive honour from DCU

The IRHA, say young drivers, in particular in rural Ireland, need their car to get to work, to college and significant delays in the driver testing system are forcing young learner drivers to make difficult choices.

M Hyland called for a radical overhaul of our driving test system to include testing for motorway driving skills, night time driving and safe overtaking on secondary roads. He has branded our testing system a laughing stock and compared it to a pilot being taught how to fly a plane without ever leaving the runway.

“The current 40 minute driving test allows for an approximate driving time of between 15 and 20 minutes, often in heavy urban slow moving traffic. This would be a great test of one’s ability to sit in a traffic jam, but if we are honestly testing driving skills and driver preparedness, the test as it stands is a shambolic exercise in raising funds for the RSA. The increase in the numbers of learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied is only the ones Gardaí are catching and we feel this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

In 2023, former Mayo TD Michael Ring highlighted that despite 414 people being employed in the RSA Office, it was not making an impact on driver test times.

“It is apparent that there are more than enough people working in the offices of the RSA but not enough staff out on the ground carrying out driving tests.

“Extraordinary delays are being experienced by driving test applicants. The RSA urgently needs to look at increasing their capacity for driving tests.

“On a weekly basis, I am being contacted by very distressed constituents who urgently require a driving test but have to wait weeks for the same. Job offers are being lost as a result of the driving test waiting time. I have cases of people living in very remote areas and they need their full licence,” he said at the time.

An RSA spokesperson said the driver testing service experienced 'unprecedented demand in recent years with the number of applications for a driving test increasing significantly since 2021'.

The service conducted 253,850 driving tests in 2024 - an increase from 196,853 driving tests in 2023.

The spokesperson said the delivery of 253,850 tests was 'only possible due to the support of our testing staff through significant levels of overtime and improvements in operational efficiencies'.

A recruitment campaign for new driver testers was launched in September 2024 with the aim of increasing the number of permanent sanctioned testers from 130 to 200.