The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has reported further progress under its Action Plan to reduce the waiting times for driving tests.
As of 14 June 2025, the average national waiting time for a driving test stands at 18.4 weeks, significantly down from a high of 27 weeks at the end of April.
The Action Plan was announced at the end of May and set out a series of actions to bring the average waiting time down to 10 weeks by September 2025.
Key measures underway to boost testing capacity include:
- Accelerated training of new testers through the use of additional training facilities and a revised approach to training, enabling early deployment of new testers to centres.
- Expanded testing hours, including overtime on weekday evenings, Saturdays, and bank holidays – with tests running from 07:25am to 7pm.
- Targeted manual intervention in the booking system to ensure invitations are issued to areas of greatest demand to ensure more efficient slot allocation.
To further alleviate pressure, the RSA will soon be opening new driving test centres in Drogheda and Sandyford, Dublin.
Over recent weeks waiting times have fallen more quickly than had been projected under the Action Plan, when it was estimated that waiting times would be 22 weeks at the end of June.
Brendan Walsh, Chief Operations Officer with the RSA said: “These improvements reflect the pace and focus with which the RSA and its teams have been implementing the targeted measures outlined in the Action Plan, and we expect the service waiting time to be below 18 weeks at the end of June.”
