Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

There were 83,000 applicants awaiting a driving test in April, which was the highest number recorded since the pandemic. Navan in County Meath, my hometown, has the longest waiting times of all the test centres in the State, with applicants waiting an estimated 43 weeks. That is, of course, alongside Tallaght, the hometown of my colleague Senator Teresa Costello. Across the border in Cavan, applicants only have to wait for 22 weeks. In April 2024, Navan had a wait time of 16 weeks. In 2025, that wait time has jumped to 43 weeks. All of us here support people going out to work but are they supposed to wait for six months and live on social welfare before they apply?

I appreciate that the RSA is actively looking for testers. I appreciate there is a review. How about getting to grips with this and beginning the process in transition year? Why not include the driver theory test as part of the curriculum? Perhaps we can chat to our Northern Irish colleagues to see what they are doing. The waiting time for a test in Northern Ireland is five weeks. How can it be possible to wait only five weeks in Fermanagh but 43 weeks in Meath?

As a Member of the Seanad, I have raised the fact that Meath has the fewest gardaí per capita, the fewest GPs per capita and the longest waiting times for a driving test in the country. We need to get serious about the growing population of Meath, a commuter county, before it all spirals out of control.