The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has criticised the Road Safety Authority’s handling of driver testing as figures just released show a rise in the number of L drivers on the country’s roads.
There were 388,090 learner permit holders on Irish roads at the end of March 2026, figures released by the Road Safety Authority confirm.
The figures sought by the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) under FOI, reveal that there was 6,219 more learner drivers on our roads than at the same time in 2025
President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Ger Hyland, has said it shows that the RSA is not making real progress on driver testing backlogs and that the figures indicate that the RSA is out of their depth, unable to manage driver testing and failing at road safety.
Mr. Hyland, said that more than 1 in 10 drivers on Irish roads are on a learner permit. He questioned the impact on road safety whilst saying we are on course for a further deterioration in road death statistics in 2026,
“Road deaths are spiralling. As of June 3rd, Garda figures show that 73 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, 6 more deaths than on the same day in 2025 – an already bad year for road safety”
Hyland said the levels of inexperienced learner drivers on our roads “beggars belief” at a time when road deaths are climbing, and the RSA has a budget of millions of euro to manage our driver testing system.
“388,090 inexperienced learner drivers on our roads is a testament to the failure of the Road Safety Authority and their mismanagement of our driver testing system. It is a mess and not getting any better, despite all the creative accounting that the RSA are doing with driver testing figures,” Mr hyland said.
Hyland pointed to Garda figures which show that 11,621 fixed charge notices were issued nationally by Gardaí in 2025 to learner drivers caught driving without a fully licensed driver. That is an increase of 1,069 or 10% on 2024. Hyland said this points to an increasing number of desperate young drivers taking a chance and driving unaccompanied to get to college or work in rural Ireland.
Mr. Hyland described Irish roads as dangerous places for his members and accused the RSA of failing on their road safety mandate.
Mr. Hyland said that the IRHA no longer has confidence in the ability of the RSA to manage and reduce road deaths and serious injuries on our roads.
“388,090 learner drivers on our roads tells it’s own story. The RSA have ducked, dived and dodged accountability and transparency and it is high time that Minister Sean Canney called them to task. If they cannot clear the backlog – then let someone else take it over and run it”
