Concern over sharp rise in 'no shows' for driving tests in recent months
Seán McCárthaigh
A road safety campaign group has expressed concern about a recent large increase in the number of learner drivers who are failing to turn up for scheduled driving tests.
The PARC Road Safety Group claims the growth in the number of “no shows” could be linked to motorists exploiting a loophole that allows learner drivers to indefinitely renew their permits without actually ever sitting a driving test.
New figures released by the Road Safety Authority show more than 1,000 applicants for driving tests were recorded as “no shows” in each of the past two months.
It is the first time in recent years that the monthly total of numbers failing to attend their driving test has exceeded 1,000.
According to the RSA figures, a record total of 1,103 “no shows” was recorded in August after 1,043 in July. In contrast there were 533 in January.
The previous monthly record for “no shows” was 832 in March 2024.
Although the recent increase is partially explained by an increase in the number of tests conducted by RSA driving testers to address record numbers of applicants, PARC is still concerned that many learner drivers are deliberately missing their scheduled appointment.
“These are inexperienced drivers that the RSA will allow to renew their permits without having to sit a driving test first,” said PARC chairperson, Susan Gray.
Under current RSA regulations, a learner driver is allowed to obtain and renew their learner permit for a period of two years.
In order to get a third or subsequent learner permit, they are required to have either booked or sat and failed the driving test in the previous two years.
Learner drivers who have booked or have an upcoming driving test will be issued with a one-year learner permit.
However, a loophole in the legislation has meant that there is no requirement for a learner driver to actually sit the test before being issued with a third learner permit.
At a meeting of the Oireachtas Transport Committee in June, RSA officials confirmed that there are approximately 56,000 motorists in the Republic who are on their third or more learner permit.
It is also estimated that around 11,000 drivers have been on a learner permit for 20 years or more.
The RSA figures were released in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD, Emer Currie.
They show the overall rate of “no shows” for driving tests has increased from 2.2 per cent in 2022 to 3.2 per cent in 2023 and 3.4 per cent last year.
The latest figures show the proportion of driving test applicants who failed to attend their scheduled appointment in the first eight months of 2025 also stands at 3.4 per cent.
Almost 5,900 “no shows” have been recorded so far this year over a period when more than 172,000 driving tests have been conducted.
The RSA said its staff had conducted more than 74,000 driving tests between June and August which was up 17% over the same period last year.
It claims average waiting times to take the test are now meeting the official target of 10 weeks compared to last April when the average wait was 27 weeks.
Commenting on the latest figures, Ms Currie said it was a positive development to see the waiting times coming down but expressed concern at the increase in “no shows.”
The Dublin West TD claimed the loophole that allows L-drivers to continually renew their permits by not taking the test is “an obvious driver of those figures.”
“It must be addressed as promised. The time is now, most especially for road safety but also the integrity of the driving test system,” said Ms Currie.
Ms Gray claimed the RSA figures indicate that over 2,000 hours of testers’ time have been wasted in the past two months alone.
She said the impact of “no shows” meant that over 2,000 driving test slots were lost at a time when efforts are being made to clear a backlog of applicants waiting to take the test.
The figures show that in the past two months more than 100 “no shows” were recorded at several driving test centres around the country including Tallaght (186), Finglas (150), Cork- Wilton (141), Naas (112), Navan (106) and Dún Laoghaire (105).
However, PARC has welcomed the recent announcement by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Seán Canney, that the Government plans to close the loophole that allows learner drivers to indefinitely renew their learner permits without sitting a test.
Ms Gray said it was an issue that PARC’s bereaved families had been highlighting to the RSA since 2014.
She said it was sad that their concerns “fell on deaf ears” until Mr Canney had recently demanded action from the RSA.
The minister has signalled that the rollover of learner permits without taking a driving test will be stopped once the Government’s target of waiting times for the test of 10 weeks is achieved.
The Department of Transport subsequently confirmed that it is intended that learner drivers who have held a learner permit for four years will be required to sit a driving test before being allowed to renew their licence again.
Learner drivers who repeatedly fail the test and have not passed one within seven years will be treated as a beginner and will be required to re-sit the driver theory test as well as take a mandatory course of 12 lessons before being allowed to sit another driving test.
“The objective of this is to ensure that everybody on the roads is a qualified driver and has the necessary skills to manage, operate and drive a car in a safe manner,” said the Department of Transport.
The failure to attend tests has also resulted in the RSA retaining fees totalling €182,410 to date in 2025.
