Wait times of nearly a year to sit driving tests are steering learners away from the road, a top instructor has said.
Kevin Horgan, who has more than 28 years of experience in the industry, revealed the problem was also going “to get worse before it gets better”.
Figures released to RTE from the RSA over the weekend said the average wait time to get an invitation for the driving test was 20 weeks - but Kevin said for a busier centre such as Tallaght this was significantly longer.
He also revealed a decision made recently to not allow people take their test in a car without a valid NCT was creating a vicious cycle that was making wait times even longer.
The requirement to have a valid NCT to sit a driving test was temporarily axed as a result of backlogs caused by Covid.
RTE said there are more than 58,000 learners currently waiting for an invite to do their driving test while nearly 15,000 have booked and are scheduled to sit a driving test over the next month.
Students must join a waiting list before they receive an invitation to book their driving test - with many left for months without a date.
Once they receive an invitation they are then able to select from appointment slots over the following three to five weeks.
When The Irish Mirror used a “driving test waiting time estimator” yesterday on the RSA’s website it said it wouldn’t be until the week beginning November 20 that a learner would receive an invitation to book their test in Tallaght.
While an invitation to book a test in Dun Laoghaire/Deansgrange wouldn’t be until the week beginning February 12, 2024 - meaning by the time they actually sit their test it could be nearly a year.
Kevin, who is the founder of Ladybird Driving School, told The Irish Mirror: “The RSA needs to increase testing capacity.
“Maybe through overtime or on Saturdays and Sundays - whatever is needed to be done. I know they do some overtime in some test centres but some centres only have one tester or maybe two.
“First of all they need to increase the amount of testers that are testing, it’s as simple as that.
"After that, sort the NCT mess out. Now people are presenting with no NCT and the RSA aren’t taking them.”
He added: “I said the same thing during Covid when asked about what could be done. It’s the same thing but Covid is over and we have the same problem.
“It’s an age-old issue that follows the Department of Transport around.”
Kevin said the delay between a student completing their mandatory 12 lessons and sitting their test was getting longer.
He said most couldn’t afford to keep up their lessons while waiting so when they did secure a test date - they aren’t up to scratch and end up failing.
Kevin explained: “If you get somebody who has finished the 12 lessons say today and they’re not going to get a date for the test for six months or nine months, they can’t afford to keep going.
“They can’t get insurance because it’s so high. The price of second-hand cars has gone up 40% so they’re out of that game and they’re driving less and less.
“They’re then presenting for the test off the required level to pass and failing and having to reapply.
“We’re not in good shape in this country at the moment when it comes to the driving test side of things.”
He added: “My students are finding it hard to get on the road. If they can’t get a test, they can't get insurance, they can’t get jobs they’re applying for.
“It has a knock-on effect, they’re being held back from going onto the next tier of their life. They’re frustrated.
“Last week, two pupils were told that around November was when they will get invited to book their test in Tallaght … it’s just not good enough.”
He said some students have become so frustrated with the current situation that they’ve turned their back on learning to drive for the moment.
Kevin added: “Some people are just saying ‘we won’t bother, ‘we won’t learn for the moment, we’ll hold off for a year or two’
“I had a grandfather contact me looking for a voucher for driving lessons for his grandson.
“And when he was telling the grandson what he was going to do, he said ‘grandad, I’m after pricing the cars, the insurance, I can’t afford it, so there is no point in getting me the lessons.
“That’s what the youngsters are thinking. Most of them are out of the price range to run a car at the moment. Fuel costs, insurance costs, and then the purchase of a car.”
When asked if he thought the backlog would be cleared in the near future, Kevin said: “No, it will be the rest of this year, it’ll get worse before it gets better.”
He later added: “I just think as always we will get through it because we all have to collectively work towards solving the problem, not create worse ones.
“I would just like to see for all government departments just things running a bit more efficiently and fluently and not make this situation worse.”
In addition, the wait time for NCT tests now has an average waiting time of 27.3 days.
The Irish Mirror requested comment from the RSA but did not receive a response before publication.
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