The waiting time for a driving test is well below the new national average in Galway city, Loughrea and Tuam – but there remains work to be done at Carnmore and particularly in Clifden.

That’s according to the latest update provided by the Road Safety Authority to Galway East TD and Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety Seán Canney, which reveals that the majority of driver testing centres are now operating within the ten-week service level agreement.

The picture is more positive in Galway city where the wait time is eight weeks, and even better at the Tuam and Loughrea test centres where there is a seven-week wait.

But that rises to eleven weeks in Carnmore – and 15 weeks in Clifden. The longest waits are still in the Greater Dublin region, with a 22-week delay in Mulhuddart and 21 weeks in Dun Laoghaire.

Overall, of the 57 centres currently in operation, 35 are operating at or below a ten-week wait, with a further 18 centres operating between ten and 15 weeks, and four centres operating with waiting times in excess of 15 weeks.

The national average waiting time now stands at 10.3 weeks, a slight improvement on the 10.6 weeks recorded at the end of 2025.

And while this remains marginally outside the ten-week service level agreement, Minister Canney said that performance remained close to target despite continued high demand.

The Minister said these updates form part of a series of reports he has received following his direction to the RSA to reduce waiting times from a high of 27 weeks at the end of April.

The national ten-week SLA was achieved in September, with the focus since then on sustaining performance while demand remains elevated.

The update also confirms that there are currently 196 testers in service nationwide, with numbers expected to rise to 200 by the end of February following the completion of the next recruitment and training programme.

Progress continues on expanding testing capacity, with the Drogheda and Sandyford test centres due to open shortly.

While demand for tests remains high, the number of people waiting for a test has reduced slightly, from over 80,000 to just under 79,000.

Minister Canney also pointed out that enhanced monthly metrics are now being introduced to monitor the impact of the forthcoming multiple learner permit policy as it moves towards implementation later this year.

Pictured: Progress…Minister Seán Canney.