Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that he is astounded to see the waiting list in the Tallaght driving test centre pass 14,000.

Teachta Crowe said that this was clear evidence that an additional testing centre was needed in south Dublin as the waiting list has grown by 4,000 people in as many months.

Figures released to Teachta Crowe by the RSA this week show that there were 14,054 people waiting on a driving test in Tallaght as of 30 November 2022.

Teachta Crowe said:

“It is astonishing to see the waiting list at the Tallaght driving test centre pass 14,000. It has grown by 4,000 in as many months.

“This is proof positive that we need an additional driving test centre in south Dublin. We have almost twice as many people waiting in Tallaght as the next highest centre. Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange continues to take third place in the highest waiting lists with over 7,000 waiting.

“I have raised this issue in the Dáil today and got the same old story that the Government were aware of the unacceptably high waiting list and were putting temporary measures in place.

“Clearly, this have not worked since one thousand people have been added to the lists every month for the past four months.

“There are 14,000 people in Tallaght singing ‘All I want for Christmas is a driving test’.

“Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan does not have any answers for those waiting on a driving test. This is a situation that he has allowed to get completely out of control.

“We need a new driving test centre in south Dublin to take the pressure off of Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire/Deansgrange so that we can get to work at clearing the backlog and give people a chance to get their licence so that they can access employment, education, childcare or any of the other essential parts of life.”