‘Significant increase' in truck & bus driving test wait times as hauliers accuse RSA of ‘massaging' driver test figures
The Irish Road Haulage Association has accused the
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The RSA has been accused of "massaging" the driving test wait times figures
Credit: RSA
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The waiting times for commercial tests have increased in recent months
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
The hauliers revealed this was done to reduce the waiting times for car driving tests, while the waiting times for commercial
As a result, the waiting lists for car tests fell by 10 per cent between April and June.
This has led to a "significant increase" in the waiting times for
According to figures provided by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of applicants waiting for an articulated truck test rose by 39.6 per cent.
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And those waiting for a category C truck test increased by 42 per cent, going from 907 people to 1,289 people waiting for the tests.
It has also caused a backlog in the testing of bus drivers, describing it as "a crisis in the making for the
The figures also show a 12.6 per cent decrease in driving test applications for category C truck licences between April and June 2025.
And the applications for category CE articulated truck tests dropped by 8.5 per cent.
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Additionally, the stats indicate that between April and June 2025, the number of applicants scheduled for driving tests for cars and light vans rose by 49.2 per cent, from 15,287 to 22,810 scheduled tests.
And the number of scheduled tests for articulated trucks decreased by 69 per cent from 242 scheduled tests in April 2025 to merely 75 scheduled tests in June 2025.
I'm an Irish driving instructor and here is why your friends are failing the test
The number of scheduled tests for category C trucks decreased by 61.8 per cent from 356 to 136 tests planned during the same period.
The association made their claims in separate letters to Minister for Transport
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They both have a deadline to return in two weeks with "sustainable proposals to improve driving test wait times".
Ger Hyland claims that the RSA's actions are hindering
He said: "Young Irish drivers who need a license to drive a
"They have pulled the wool over this governments eyes and instead of dealing with the high demand for testing, they decided to simply move the deck chairs around the
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'DEVASTATING IMPACT'
Hyland added: "Driving school owners are telling us that commercial driving license testing in Ireland has all but stopped over the last 2 months. That means no new bus drivers, truck drivers, HGV drivers.
"We have young Irish people who want to drive for a living but cannot get a license so we are forced to bring in drivers from
"One HGV driving instructor in
"He told of the devastating impact this was having on his business and how he had young drivers waiting since January for a commercial driving test to try and get a job."
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'CLEARLY NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE'
He continued: "The RSA know that the car testing figures are what will garner more media and political focus.
"That is why they moved their resources there, at the expense of the commercial driving sector.
"They just moved the driving test crisis from cars to commercial vehicles, leading to severe backlogs in the testing system for bus, HGV and truck drivers.
"These are the drivers we need to bring tourists around, deliver goods and keep our
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"The RSA have learned nothing in the past 6 months and have demonstrated that their organisation is clearly not fit for purpose."
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