The Galway minister in charge of driving tests remains confident that the wait to sit them will reach the target of ten weeks by September.

And when it meets that goal, Minister Seán Canney said he will implement a ban on learner drivers applying for multiple permits but not sitting the actual test.

The Minister of State for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rails and Ports said he had been getting an update every fortnight from the Road Safety Authority on improvements to the waiting lists since April.

His department had authorised the appointment of 30 extra testers, which had seen the average waiting time of 27 weeks cut to 18 weeks last week. He has approved funding for a further 30 testers at the end of August in order to hit the ten-week target by mid-autumn.

“When that’s sorted, I will concentrate on the 8,000 no-shows for tests which is adding to the waiting lists. Up to now people on driving permits had to show they had an appointment for a test to get their permit reviewed,” he told the Connacht Tribune.

“There are some learner drivers out there have had 14 learner permits without taking a test. I want to bring in a ‘three strikes and you’re off the road’. I met with a road safety advocacy group last week and I’ve assured them we have the regulation ready and in place but we weren’t ready to introduce it until the waiting time was down to 1- weeks because we’d peak again.

“Once we meet that, the regulation will come in – maybe as early as September 1.”

Some locations are in need of additional testers such as Galway City which is experiencing longer wait times than the national average.

The RSA said a range of measures had all contributed to slashing wait times, which were predicted to reach 22 weeks by this month.

There had been accelerated training of new testers through the use of additional training facilities and a revised approach to training, enabling early deployment of new testers to centres.

There had also been expanded testing hours, including overtime on weekday evenings, Saturdays and bank holidays, with tests running from 7.25am to 7pm.

The RSA had also implemented targeted manual intervention in the booking system to ensure invitations are issued to areas of greatest demand to ensure more efficient slot allocation.

Tuam has the shortest waiting times, with the next available tests on September 1. Drivers who want to sit the test in Clifden have to wait until October 27. Galway’s Clybaun Hotel is November 3, while Carnmore has the longest waiting times, with drivers forced to wait until November 10.

Pictured: Minister Seán Canney…confident.