Almost 4,000 people in Tipperary are waiting to sit their driving test

There were 3,823 people across Tipperary waiting to sit a Category B (Car) Driving Test on December 31, 2022, according to figures released to Deputy Michael Lowry.

The Independent TD said that there were 1,571 on the Clonmel car test waiting List, with 641 in Nenagh; 814 in Thurles and 797 in Tipperary Town.

Having contacted the RSA in recent days to establish more in-depth data, Deputy Lowry was told that, of the overall numbers waiting to sit a driving test in Tipperary at year-end, 561 were scheduled to sit a driving test and 1,279 were awaiting an invitation to book a test.

Some 1,541 applications were paused, in some cases because they did not respond to an invitation to book a test within the 10 days provided, while a further 989 were deemed ineligible for reasons including not having completed their 12 mandatory driving lessons or the fact that they are not eligible to sit a driving test within the first six months of having received their first learner permit.

Currently, the national average waiting time to sit a car driving test is 19 weeks, but the Department of Transport says that it aims to reduce this and maintain it at a 10-week waiting period.

The projected waiting times for people applying at the present time in Clonmel is 26 weeks; Nenagh is 10 weeks, while both Thurles and Tipperary Town are both at 11 weeks.

The RSA has confirmed that the backlog of driving test applications that arose as a result of Covid was cleared in the early months of 2022, according to Deputy Lowry.