In response to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Seán Sherlock, the RSA has given details of 17 test centres that are being extended or introduced to accommodate the backlog, including new sites at GAA facilities and hotels.
Declan Naughton, the Director of Driving Testing and Licensing said that in most cases, “we are expanding existing locations or replacing an unsuitable location”.
The most recent figures, revealed this week by the Irish Examiner, show a waitlist of 101,000 people hoping to sit a driving test and a further 105,000 people waiting to sit their theory test. It is understood online testing is being considered to help get through the wait list for theory tests. There are 18,636 people under the age of 20 waiting for tests with 24,181 people aged between 31 and 40 on the list. Just under 19% of people on the waiting list are aged 41 or older.