Laois TD accuses government and Road Safety Authority of misleading driving test wait time figures

INDEPENDENT Laois TD Brian Stanley has accused the government and Road Safety Authority (RSA) of publishing misleading driving test waiting times.

The Laois TD challenged An Taoiseach Micháel Martin and Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien TD over lengthy driving test waiting times in Laois, stating that, at present, there is a two-stage process for eligible drivers between requesting a test and being put on a waiting list for assessment.

Deputy Stanley says the fact that RSA has split the time has created an inaccurate picture of the reality for applicants.

He detailed the experience of a constituent: “A local woman sought a driving test back on 21 May. She had to seek an invitation”, he said.

“She was told that it would take ten weeks to get onto the waiting list, which would be the end of July. That has now been extended to the end of August, which is 14 weeks. She applied for the waiting time”.

Deputy Stanley suggested that delays to join the waiting list means the RSA's advertised test wait time is inaccurate: “According to the RSA website … there is another 11.5 weeks on average to wait in Laois. That brings it to a total of 25 weeks, if the two periods are counted. The two stages from requesting a test to getting a test is misleading”.

He highlighted the difficulties this causes for workers in rural areas like Rathdowney, Clonaslee, Vicarstown, The Swan, Ballinakill, Borris-in-Ossory, and called on the Taoiseach and Minister for Transport “to do something about these waiting times, to shorten them and to scrap the two-stage process. It is a misleading process”.

The Taoiseach said he will talk to the Minister for Transport and the Road Safety Authority in respect of the issue: “I cannot operationally run the Road Safety Authority. There had been some progress in terms of reducing the timelines. I will talk to the Minister and ask him to engage with the Road Safety Authority to continue to work on getting waiting times for driving tests down”, the Taoiseach said.

The RSA, in a statement sent to the Laois Nationalist, said that, although it is difficult to address certain criticisms without have specific details, there is not a two-stage process.

“When a person applies for their test”, the statement reads, “so long as they are eligible (i.e., have completed the required EDT and held their first learner permit for 6 months), they join the waiting list. When we reach their place in the queue, they are sent an invitation which enables them to see all available slots over the following 30 days”.

The RSA said the estimated wait time is calculated based on the number of testers likely to be available each week into the foreseeable future, and the number of applicants who are waiting for a test. 

The statement continues: “The wait time presented for each centre is reflective of that calculation – [in other words] how long it would take to test all applicants waiting with the capacity available. The end June estimated wait time for a car test at Portlaoise test centre was 14 weeks while the national average estimate was 11.8 weeks”.

The RSA states that an individual's estimated wait time is personalised and dependent on several factors specific to that applicant's circumstances: “In short, it looks at the date of eligibility, with a person joining the invitation queue from the time they become eligible to sit a test.

“An applicant can also pause their application, reschedule or cancel their test and each of these actions will have an impact on their overall waiting time for an invitation.

“In addition, where a person sits in the queue is relative to all other applicants in that queue who are also assigned based on their eligibility and personal circumstances. It can be the case that driver testers who were planned for are not available in a particular centre, this could be due to a variety of reasons including illness, bereavement or other types of leave.

“While the service seeks to keep the estimations as accurate as possible, it can be the case that estimations can move out. They can also pull back where there is more capacity that anticipated.

“Another factor that can cause an estimation to shift is where an applicant, who has a test booked, cancels that test and retains their fee, or where the test cannot go ahead due to inclement weather, in these instances, those customers are issued with another invite to enable them to book another test”.