Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has called on the Minister of Transport and RSA to open an additional test centre in south Dublin to take the pressure off of Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange which have two of the highest waiting list numbers in the state.

Teachta Crowe said:

“There are 10,044 people on the waiting list for a driving test in the Tallaght centre according to the latest figures released to me by the RSA. This one test centre represents 12% of people waiting across the entire network of 61 testing centres.

“The next largest waiting list is for Finglas with 5,465 people waiting, followed by Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange with 5,365.

“This is not a new problem. The Tallaght waiting list has consistently been far and away the highest numbers of people waiting and successive Ministers have done nothing to stem the growth of people waiting to get a test.

“South Dublin has only two testing centres and those two centres feature in the top three highest waiting lists.

“The only way to cut through the numbers and ensure people are not waiting for months and years for a test is to open another testing centre in south Dublin. The problem has gotten too great for temporary measures like additional testers as once they leave, the numbers will only start to build up once again.

“We cannot leave people waiting unnecessarily when it comes to driving tests any longer. It makes life all the harder when it comes to getting anywhere especially in areas of poor transport links and by these delays, we are needlessly adding to the burden on workers and families.”