Aontú PRO for the Midwest, Eric Nelligan, reveals that there are currently over 4,879 learner driver applications with the Road Safety Authority(RSA) test centres in Tipperary. Slightly less than 8% of the applications, a total of 526 between the Clonmel, Nenagh, Thurles and Tipperary town centres, are currently scheduled so that the applicant is aware of the test date. A significant number of applications, 1,757 people, have applied but are waiting for an update.
Mr Nelligan says learner drivers are now waiting up to 23 weeks, or almost six months, for driving tests. If you applied for a test in the first week of May, it’d be November before you’d get to sit the exam in Nenagh, the wait time in Clonmel is 20 weeks with a 14-week delay in Tipp Town and 10 weeks in Thurles.
Mr Nelligan branded the wait time “outrageous” and says that Aontú will be challenging for more investment for improved services. The Party suggests that during the Summer months tests should be scheduled later in the day to help clear the backlog.
The RSA recently completed a recruitment campaign to increase permanent staff in the Driver Testing Service from 100 to 130. Aontú says this increase will barely keep pace with an increase in applications.
