Meath's learner drivers waiting longer than those in any other county to do a driving test
Meath's learner drivers are waiting longer than those in any other county to do a driving test.
The driving test centre in Navan has the longest waiting list in the country with an estimated 33 weeks wait for a test
Across the country, learners are waiting an average of 21 weeks, with Navan's 33 week wait the highest followed by Dun Laoghaire/Deansgrange with a 32 week wait.
The figures have risen since last April when the average wait nationally was 15 weeks. In December 2023 it stood at 23 weeks.
The latest RSA data shows that nationally 68,177 eligible learner drivers were awaiting a test at the end of December, down slightly on the total of 68,314 a year earlier. As of last month, 15,984 learner drivers had a driving test scheduled.
A further 54,180 applications had been paused as a result of the applicant failing to respond to an invitation to book a test within 10 days, while a further 30,781 applicants had been found to be ineligible to sit the test.
Deputy Darren O'Rourke said the waiting list was a very significant problem that needed to be addressed.
"The driving test is important for young people who want to get mobile to progress in work, college or recreation. It is important for people of any age especially for work.
"I have raised this repeatedly. It has gone on for too long. There needs to be a plan in place to address these backlogs. If we want to expand the workforce, we cannot have these backlogs," he said.
The Mayor of Navan, Cllr Eddie Fennessy said;“Minister Jack Chambers promised last April that wait times across the state would reduce from 15 to 10 weeks by the middle of 2024. Not only has that promise been broken, but wait times have actually doubled, and Navan now has the worst wait times in the state at 33 weeks.
“This is obviously a resource issue. We don’t have enough testers in the county to work through the backlog. What bothers me most about this, is that we’ve known for years that we don’t have the testing staff to meet demand. No effort has been made to increase staff numbers and once again Navan is bottom of the pile in terms of resource allocation.
“We have the lowest number of Gardaí per head of population in the state. Our local authority is the lowest funded in the state. Local health services are continuously depleted. And we don’t have a rail service in the town.
“People ask all the time, why are we so poorly resourced. I tell them that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael governments don’t have to invest resources in Navan because a large number of people will continue to vote for them. The only currency they understand is political power. Deny them that power, then sit back and watch the flow of resources that pour into the town.
“If the government parties cared about the people of Navan, we would have enough Gardaí to police the community, a fully resourced and functioning local health service, a rail serviceand the shortest wait times for driving tests in the state.”