Driving testers paid to ‘twiddle their thumbs’ because of no-shows

Driving test examiners are being paid to “twiddle their thumbs” because of the large number of no-shows for tests, it has been claimed.

Figures compiled by road safety campaign group Parc show 11,287 people failed to attend their test between January 1st last year and July 31st of 2024.

There were 6,440 no-shows in 2023 and 4,847 up to July this year. The latest Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures show 6,016 learners failed to attend their test up to October 2024, giving a current total of 12,456.

The Parc figures were compiled from parliamentary figures and available RSA data.

The increase comes as test waiting times are also rising. The longest is in Co Carlow at 29 weeks, followed by Dún Laoghaire (27 weeks) and Co Kildare (25 weeks).

A beginner driver can obtain a permit for up to two years and then renew it for a further two years before they are obliged to apply for a test.

If they fail to show for the test, so long as they have the letter confirming they applied they can renew their permit for a year and repeat this process annually and indefinitely.

With a driving test costing €85, the Road Safety Authority retained almost €1 million in no-show fees.

RSA figures last year showed 28,570 people on their third or subsequent learner permit who had never sat a driving test and in some cases may have been driving for almost 30 years without ever holding a full licence.

Susan Gray of Parc said more driving testers were being recruited, 75 were recently in place and a further 70 will be testing from March next year.

“They are being paid to twiddle their thumbs, waiting for people who fail to show for their test,” Ms Gray said. “They have to tackle the no-shows. It’s wasting a lot of the testers’ time.”

“If the RSA made it compulsory that they would not renew a permit until the driver did a test there would be far fewer learners out there. There are so many learners out there who are desperate to get a test and they’re practising all the time.”

The RSA said however that while there had been a marked improvement since the introduction of a new booking system in 2020.

The highest number of no-shows in recent years was in 2019 when 24,472 failed to attend a test (11.1 per cent of total). In 2022 there were 4,131 no-shows (2.3 per cent), 6,440 last year (3 per cent) and 6,016 to date this year, according to the RSA data.

“While it is the case that there has been a slight increase over the past few years, the percentage overall remains low,” below 3.5 per cent, the RSA said.

New testers are being recruited and when they are in place “customers will see improvements in their waiting times”.

Minister of State for Transport James Lawless in a recent parliamentary reply to former taoiseach Leo Varadkar said it is intended to oblige learners to take a test before a second learner permit is renewed.

“The intention is to proceed with the planned approach when the driver testing backlog is resolved.”

Ms Gray said however that no-shows are “clogging up the waiting list” and the backlog would never be addressed if the no-shows were not dealt with to get to the long promised 10-week waiting time.

She noted increased fatalities, adding that Mayo has had the highest number of fatalities of any county this year, at 17, followed by 16 in Dublin.

In 2023, a total of 15 learner drivers were involved in fatal collisions with six of them among the deceased.