Over 1,300 people waiting to sit driving test in Mullingar

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has confirmed that 1,317 people are on a waiting list to sit a driving test in Mullingar.

This compares with 705 in Tullamore, and 977 in Athlone.

“1,317 is too high a number of people putting their lives on hold,” stated Fine Gael Minister, Peter Burke TD, who raised the issue of delays in the Dáil.

The matter was referred to the RSA by Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, and the RSA in turn confirmed that Mullingar had 1,317 applicants who are eligible to sit their driving test, and who will be invited once there are test slots available or, who already have an open invitation to book themselves a test slot.

Following correspondence from the Road Safety Authority, it was revealed that Mullingar has 1,317 people on their waiting list for a Driving Test, compared to 705 in Tullamore and 977 in Athlone.

“All delays are regrettable, but there seems to be excessive waiting times for Mullingar. I will continue to push for improvements in the waiting times for driving tests in Mullingar and have called for additional resources to address the delays,” commented Minister Burke.

“So many young people have their lives on hold while they try and get their driving tests booked. I can fully appreciate that it can be frustrating relying on a full driving licence holders to have to accompany them while they wait for their test.

"While you are striving for independence, working, studying, needing to be mobile, this can be an impediment to moving on with your life.

“I have brought this up with the Minister for Transport and having referred it to the Road Safety Authority, there seems to be delays in Mullingar which are not reflected in Tullamore or Athlone. I have called on resources to be applied to Mullingar to address this and I await developments”, concluded Minister Peter Burke.