Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has repeated his calls for an additional driving test centre to be constructed in south Dublin to serve the more than 24,000 people waiting on a test in the area.

Figures released from the RSA showed that there were 16,136 people on the Tallaght waiting list as of the end of June, by far the highest in the state.

Teachta Crowe said:

“There are now more than 16,000 people waiting on a driving test in Tallaght. It is consistently the highest number in the state by a huge margin and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down, not to talk about being reduced.

“Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan cannot ignore these figures. An additional testing centre is desperately needed in south Dublin. Not only are Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange two of the four highest waiting lists in the state, they also have some of the longest waiting times at 10 months in Tallaght and just shy of a year in the other centre so it is clear that they are completely overwhelmed by the demand.

“That 16,000 people applied for a driving test so that they could access employment or education, bring their children to school or childcare or a hundred other reasons. They cannot be left waiting for almost a year because the Minister has an ideological bent against cars. We need an additional test centre for south Dublin and honestly, we needed it years ago.”