10,600 learner drivers on roads in Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford branded “a crisis”
The Irish Road Haulage Association is raising concerns about the rising number of learner drivers on the road. Pic: iStock
New figures released from the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal that there are 394,128 learner permit holders now on Irish roads at the end of September 2025. More than 10,600 of them are on the roads in Roscommon (4,485) Leitrim (2,328) and Longford (3,797).
The figures show that there has been an increase of 12,257 learner drivers nationally – 100 in Roscommon - since March of this year, just six months ago.
Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) President Ger Hyland said the levels of inexperienced drivers on our roads “beggars belief at a time when millions of taxpayers euros are being pumped into the RSA to clear a chronic backlog of driver testing across all licence categories”.
Mr Hyland warned that the surge in learner drivers on our roads poses a direct threat to Irish road safety, “To have 394,128 inexperienced drivers on our roads is a testament to the failure of the Road Safety Authority and their mismanagement of our driver testing system. It is a mess and not getting any better, despite all the creative accounting that the RSA are doing with driver testing figures”
He said extraordinary number of learner drivers on Irish roads comes at a time when road deaths are spiralling. As of November 20th, 2025, Garda figures show that 158 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, 9 more deaths than on the same day in 2024.
Most learner permit holders in Roscommon are aged between 17-20 (1,277 drivers) and 30 and 39 (822). 11 learner permit holders in Roscommon are over the age of 80 while 51 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Roscommon according to figures provided by the RSA.
Most learner permit holders in Leitrim are aged between 17-20 (746 drivers) and 30 and 39 (421 drivers). 4 learner permit holders in Leitrim are over the age of 80 while 33 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Leitrim.
Most learner permit holders in Longford are aged between 17-20 (967 drivers) and 30 and 39 (788). 11 learner permit holders in Longford are over the age of 80 while 30 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Longford.
Mr Hyland pointed to Garda figures which show that 2,754 fixed charge notices were issued nationally by Gardaí in the first three months of 2025 alone to learner drivers caught driving without a fully licensed driver. That is an increase of 9.5% on the same period in 2024.
He said that our roads have become dangerous places for his members and accused the RSA of not getting a handle on what is a crisis for Irish road safety.
The IRHA President called on media to robustly interrogate the real story behind the vast numbers of Irish people waiting for car, truck and bus driving tests. He said that the IRHA no longer has confidence in the data provided by the RSA.
“How are we supposed to accept that around 10% of Ireland’s driving public are on some kind of learner permit? We have been asking questions of the RSA for the past 12 months on behalf of our members and the driving public. The RSA have ducked, dived and dodged accountability and transparency and it is high time that Minister Sean Canney called them to task,” he said.
