Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon/Galway Eugene Murphy has highlighted the fact that people in Roscommon and Athlone are subjected to some of the longest waiting times for driving tests in the country – with waiting times of over four months.
Deputy Murphy says: “Figures from the Road Safety Authority indicate that people in Athlone have one of the longest waiting times in the country as they are typically waiting 17 weeks or over four months to sit their driving test and 1,892 people in Co. Westmeath have not been scheduled for a test yet.
“The waiting time for a driving test in Roscommon is 16.8 weeks and over 700 people have not been scheduled for a test while there are over 3,000 people in Co. Galway who have not been scheduled for a driving test yet.
“The figures in Longford are also quite high at 15 weeks with over 500 people still not scheduled for a test while in Carrick-on-Shannon in Co. Leitrim people are waiting 13.4 weeks to sit their driving test with 469 people still waiting to be scheduled for a test.”
Deputy Murphy said such long waiting periods are “simply unacceptable” as many people are left in limbo for up to four months.
“Many of these people may be waiting for a full licence for employment purposes or a job application may be hinging on them having a full licence while other drivers are paying exorbitant levels of car insurance for provisional licences and they are being left waiting long periods to sit their driving test.”
