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Transport Omnibus 2016

Driver and Vehicle Testing

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 2,820,528 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2016, of which almost a quarter of one million (249,657) were learner permit licences.

Over 114,000 (114,399) driving tests were conducted in 2016 with an average pass rate of 53.7%.

Compared with 2015, the number of driving tests conducted in 2016 decreased by 6.2%. While the number on the waiting list at the end of the year decreased by 17.7%, the average waiting time for a test increased to 12 weeks.

Almost 1.5 million (1,465,710) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2016. Over half (52.8%) failed the initial test, but 94.2% of cars passed after one or more tests.

X-axis label	Number of applications received	Driving tests conducted
2011	147.108	127.946
2012	141.309	104.302
2013	139.381	105.259
2014	152.078	106.989
2015	164.204	121.918
2016	166.149	114.399

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type and licensing authority at 31/12/2016
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences
Carlow	3,704	183	3,247	31,043	38,177
Cavan	4,313	164	4,321	37,828	46,626
Clare	5,819	317	7,802	64,507	78,445
Cork	27,805	1,288	31,903	271,308	332,304
Donegal	7,281	482	9,994	81,284	99,041
Dublin	71,083	2,968	64,912	562,276	701,239
Galway	12,204	525	14,519	131,223	158,471
Kerry	7,271	330	10,220	78,166	95,987
Kildare	12,531	370	9,473	109,510	131,884
Kilkenny	5,559	355	5,717	48,298	59,929
Laois	4,604	265	3,871	37,909	46,649
Leitrim	1,587	120	2,231	17,480	21,418
Limerick	9,502	581	11,442	97,801	119,326
Longford	2,274	75	2,545	19,776	24,670
Louth	6,754	291	6,372	59,199	72,616
Mayo	6,473	360	9,081	70,066	85,980
Meath	10,074	342	9,257	97,886	117,559
Monaghan	2,925	185	3,622	33,462	40,194
Offaly	4,302	273	4,232	39,090	47,897
Roscommon	3,041	183	4,699	34,403	42,326
Sligo	2,899	263	4,485	34,769	42,416
Tipperary	9,436	528	10,960	83,514	104,438
Waterford	6,347	239	7,388	58,687	72,661
Westmeath	5,087	215	4,904	44,955	55,161
Wexford	8,762	766	9,643	76,663	95,834
Wicklow	8,020	420	8,354	72,486	89,280
Total	249,657	12,088	265,194	2,293,589	2,820,528
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.1 (XLS 12KB)

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Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type, gender and licensing authority at 31/12/2016
Licensing authority	Full licences			Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	18,575	15,898	34,473	1,877	1,827	3,704
Cavan	23,295	19,018	42,313	2,172	2,141	4,313
Clare	37,652	34,974	72,626	3,053	2,766	5,819
Cork	162,577	141,922	304,499	14,295	13,510	27,805
Donegal	49,592	42,168	91,760	3,849	3,432	7,281
Dublin	337,032	293,124	630,156	34,362	36,721	71,083
Galway	76,658	69,609	146,267	6,201	6,003	12,204
Kerry	47,706	41,010	88,716	3,696	3,575	7,271
Kildare	63,042	56,311	119,353	6,001	6,530	12,531
Kilkenny	28,375	25,995	54,370	2,867	2,692	5,559
Laois	22,635	19,410	42,045	2,285	2,319	4,604
Leitrim	10,782	9,049	19,831	813	774	1,587
Limerick	58,562	51,262	109,824	4,863	4,639	9,502
Longford	12,457	9,939	22,396	1,128	1,146	2,274
Louth	35,515	30,347	65,862	3,168	3,586	6,754
Mayo	42,749	36,758	79,507	3,337	3,136	6,473
Meath	56,376	51,109	107,485	4,910	5,164	10,074
Monaghan	20,999	16,270	37,269	1,555	1,370	2,925
Offaly	23,912	19,683	43,595	2,157	2,145	4,302
Roscommon	21,322	17,963	39,285	1,601	1,440	3,041
Sligo	20,008	19,509	39,517	1,486	1,413	2,899
Tipperary	50,965	44,037	95,002	4,848	4,588	9,436
Waterford	35,315	30,999	66,314	3,184	3,163	6,347
Westmeath	27,010	23,064	50,074	2,506	2,581	5,087
Wexford	45,277	41,795	87,072	4,396	4,366	8,762
Wicklow	42,566	38,694	81,260	3,960	4,060	8,020
Total	1,370,954	1,199,917	2,570,871	124,570	125,087	249,657
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2016
Licensing authority	Age (years)
Licensing authority	Under 17	17 - 20	21 - 24	25 - 29	30 - 39	40 - 49	50 - 59	60 - 69	70 - 79	80 and over	Total
Carlow	-	440	1,356	2,751	8,030	7,784	6,200	4,632	2,523	757	34,473
Cavan	-	802	2,004	3,560	9,433	8,866	7,552	5,836	3,185	1,075	42,313
Clare	-	1,347	3,406	5,545	14,742	15,810	13,498	10,601	5,911	1,766	72,626
Cork	-	5,058	12,774	23,187	66,689	66,837	55,824	42,478	23,917	7,735	304,499
Donegal	-	1,464	4,205	7,942	19,684	19,141	16,200	13,117	7,774	2,233	91,760
Dublin	-	4,843	18,229	43,885	152,111	145,478	115,507	85,845	47,751	16,507	630,156
Galway	-	1,978	5,915	11,653	33,987	32,829	25,818	19,873	10,961	3,253	146,267
Kerry	-	1,443	3,793	6,903	18,514	18,085	16,325	13,580	7,737	2,336	88,716
Kildare	-	1,512	4,430	8,359	27,688	30,094	22,237	15,853	7,342	1,838	119,353
Kilkenny	-	891	2,373	4,342	11,364	11,668	10,168	7,766	4,382	1,416	54,370
Laois	-	474	1,677	3,276	10,058	9,539	7,644	5,452	2,960	965	42,045
Leitrim	-	342	917	1,568	4,224	3,931	3,580	3,033	1,674	562	19,831
Limerick	-	1,923	4,769	8,573	24,811	23,099	19,274	15,871	8,830	2,674	109,824
Longford	-	322	948	1,849	5,066	4,663	3,724	3,307	1,901	616	22,396
Louth	-	732	2,303	4,930	14,843	15,669	12,227	8,819	4,923	1,416	65,862
Mayo	-	1450	3,777	7,042	16,756	15,240	14,154	12,075	6,887	2,126	79,507
Meath	-	1,485	4,233	7,662	24,191	27,250	19,835	13,749	7,130	1,950	107,485
Monaghan	-	747	1,904	3,389	8,281	7,384	6,573	5,339	2,784	868	37,269
Offaly	-	744	1,878	3,588	9,718	9,546	8,017	5,836	3,175	1,093	43,595
Roscommon	-	730	1,786	3,187	8,114	7,644	7,096	6,048	3,465	1,215	39,285
Sligo	-	636	1,727	3,134	8,368	7,675	7,284	6,161	3,439	1,093	39,517
Tipperary	-	1,541	4,131	7,494	19,955	19,584	17,338	14,008	8,143	2,808	95,002
Waterford	-	1,069	2,670	5,036	14,514	14,467	12,190	9,059	5,557	1,752	66,314
Westmeath	-	705	2,075	3,905	11,355	11,113	9,288	6,773	3,689	1,171	50,074
Wexford	-	1,445	3,712	6,654	17,959	18,887	16,208	12,296	7,575	2,336	87,072
Wicklow	-	1,050	3,082	5,537	17,038	18,983	15,845	11,411	6,466	1,848	81,260
Total	0	35,173	100,074	194,951	577,493	571,266	469,606	358,818	200,081	63,409	2,570,871
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.3 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2016
Licensing authority	Age (years)
Licensing authority	Under 17	17 - 20	21 - 24	25 - 29	30 - 39	40 - 49	50 - 59	60 - 69	70 - 79	80 and over	Total
Carlow	27	797	705	592	915	394	167	75	24	8	3,704
Cavan	52	1,232	803	642	838	389	211	104	32	10	4,313
Clare	38	1,751	1,068	824	1,124	615	232	111	45	11	5,819
Cork	166	7,465	5,092	4,322	6,276	2,837	1,060	444	123	20	27,805
Donegal	108	2,322	1,546	1,065	1,293	537	232	124	45	9	7,281
Dublin	24	10,450	12,407	13,671	21,760	8,508	2,871	1,052	302	38	71,083
Galway	99	3,048	2,430	1,896	2,784	1,196	471	209	62	9	12,204
Kerry	69	2,217	1,413	1,028	1,352	633	316	172	61	10	7,271
Kildare	26	2,871	2,377	1,969	2,906	1,562	523	229	59	9	12,531
Kilkenny	54	1,518	1,053	832	1,104	564	273	122	32	7	5,559
Laois	30	1,104	842	731	1,098	501	172	89	33	4	4,604
Leitrim	23	481	288	221	278	158	61	60	14	3	1,587
Limerick	43	2,532	1,719	1,413	2,184	956	406	183	60	6	9,502
Longford	24	537	443	320	514	238	119	58	17	4	2,274
Louth	27	1,384	1,364	1,124	1,540	826	335	107	44	3	6,754
Mayo	72	2,122	1,282	917	1,151	524	231	126	42	6	6,473
Meath	40	2,570	2,044	1,469	2,196	1,084	415	190	60	6	10,074
Monaghan	34	945	587	412	507	256	114	50	16	4	2,925
Offaly	56	1,154	851	691	870	393	177	79	29	2	4,302
Roscommon	45	866	589	441	584	269	149	65	24	9	3,041
Sligo	29	872	556	427	540	276	116	60	17	6	2,899
Tipperary	111	2,643	1,820	1,354	1,897	902	400	228	66	15	9,436
Waterford	40	1,515	1,113	988	1,478	721	311	126	42	13	6,347
Westmeath	36	1,214	1,008	817	1,139	515	219	99	35	5	5,087
Wexford	70	2,400	1,635	1,361	1,738	848	417	211	71	11	8,762
Wicklow	23	1,811	1,537	1,395	1,801	874	355	169	46	9	8,020
Total	1,366	57,821	46,572	40,922	59,867	26,576	10,353	4,542	1,401	237	249,657
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.4 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2016
Age	Full licence			Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Under 17	0	0	0	1,272	94	1,366
17 - 20	22,529	12,644	35,173	30,955	26,866	57,821
21 - 24	54,940	45,134	100,074	22,145	24,427	46,572
25 - 29	101,286	93,665	194,951	20,173	20,749	40,922
30 - 39	293,731	283,762	577,493	29,503	30,364	59,867
40 - 49	297,843	273,423	571,266	13,626	12,950	26,576
50 - 59	248,402	221,204	469,606	4,895	5,458	10,353
60 - 69	198,964	159,854	358,818	1,613	2,929	4,542
70 - 79	114,912	85,169	200,081	326	1,075	1,401
80 and over	38,347	25,062	63,409	62	175	237
Total	1,370,954	1,199,917	2,570,871	124,570	125,087	249,657
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.5 (XLS 12KB)

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Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2011 - 2016
					Number and rate
	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Number of applications received	147,108	141,309	139,381	152,078	164,204	166,149
Driving tests conducted	127,946	104,302	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399
Applicant did not attend for appointment	20,110	18,632	19,621	21,118	22,179	21,536
Number on waiting list at end of year	26,903	40,879	29,252	36,382	38,351	31,549
Average waiting time for test at end of year	7.9 wks	9.3 wks	8.3 wks	9.3 wks	9.6 wks	12 Wks
Average pass rate	51.3%	52.5%	51.8%	53.4%	54.0%	53.7%
Number of testers employed at end of year	113.7	104.7	103.7	97.2	92.2	92.4
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2011 - 2016
					Number and rate
Gender	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Male	69,548	56,765	56,491	58,607	67,540	64,870
Pass	37,553	31,672	30,958	33,225	38,570	36,965
Fail	31,995	25,093	25,533	25,382	28,970	27,905
% pass	54	55.8	54.8	56.7	57.1	57.0
Female	58,398	47,537	48,768	48,382	54,378	49,529
Pass	28,143	23,111	23,587	23,857	27,207	24,405
Fail	30,255	24,426	25,181	24,525	27,171	25,124
% pass	48.2	48.6	48.4	49.3	50.0	49.3

Total	127,946	104,302	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.7 (XLS 9KB)

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Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2011 - 2016
					Number and rate
Age category	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
16 - 21 years
Pass	23,553	19,039	19,658	19,460	22,555	22,447
Fail	17,960	13,715	14,578	13,665	16,247	16,949
Total	41,513	32,754	34,236	33,125	38,802	39,396
% pass	56.7	58.1	57.4	58.7	58.1	57.0

22 - 25 years
Pass	12,601	10,421	10,807	11,679	13,059	11,213
Fail	10,402	8,347	8,925	8,887	9,940	8,915
Total	23,003	18,768	19,732	20,566	22,999	20,128
% pass	54.8	55.5	54.8	56.8	56.8	55.7

26 or over
Pass	29,542	25,323	24,080	25,943	30,163	27,710
Fail	33,888	27,457	27,211	27,355	29,954	27,165
Total	63,430	52,780	51,291	53,298	60,117	54,875
% pass	46.6	48.0	46.9	48.7	50.2	50.5
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.8 (XLS 9KB)

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Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2011 - 2016
					Number and rate
	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
No of tests conducted	110,185	80,465	83,620	93,700	121,554	109,932
% Pass Rate	70.6	77.2	77.0	75.9	75.2	72.3
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.9 (XLS 9KB)

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Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2012 - 2016
					Number of weeks
		2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
North Leinster
	Dundalk	8	7	8	9	10
	Finglas	9	7	8	8	10
	Mullingar	8	7	9	9	11
	Navan	8	7	8	9	11
	Raheny	9	7	9	8	8
South Leinster
	Churchtown (opened on 20 January 2016)	-	-	-	-	10
	Gorey	10	9	10	11	15
	Naas	10	7	8	8	13
	Rathgar (closed in January 2016)	10	7	8	9	-
	Tallaght	10	7	8	9	13
	Tullamore	11	7	10	10	12
	Wicklow	9	8	8	11	13
West
	Athlone	9	9	11	10	12
	Birr	10	9	11	11	14
	Castlebar	9	9	10	11	11
	Clifden	8	8	11	10	12
	Ennis	9	8	9	11	16
	Galway	9	8	9	8	15
	Loughrea	11	9	9	11	16
	Roscommon	9	8	9	11	13
	Tuam	11	10	11	11	12
North West
	Ballina	10	8	8	10	13
	Buncrana	10	10	9	11	13
	Carrick-on-Shannon	9	8	9	11	15
	Cavan	9	7	8	11	12
	Donegal	11	11	10	11	12
	Letterkenny	10	7	8	9	14
	Longford	9	11	9	11	14
	Monaghan	10	9	10	11	12
	Sligo	8	9	8	11	16
South East
	Carlow	9	9	10	11	15
	Clonmel	8	10	10	11	15
	Dungarvan	8	9	10	11	13
	Kilkenny	9	9	11	11	15
	Nenagh	11	11	11	11	17
	Portlaoise	9	10	11	11	13
	Thurles	9	11	8	11	13
	Tipperary	9	9	11	11	10
	Waterford	9	8	10	9	13
	Wexford	9	8	11	11	11
South West
	Cork	9	8	10	11	13
	Killarney	9	7	9	10	9
	Kilrush	9	7	11	10	13
	Limerick	9	8	8	9	13
	Mallow	8	6	8	11	14
	Newcastlewest	9	9	9	11	15
	Shannon	8	7	9	9	11
	Skibbereen	10	9	9	8	13
	Tralee	9	7	8	10	13
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 2.10 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2016
Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests
Abbeyfeale	8,725	7,605	6,887	755	15,612	16,330
Arklow	12,778	15,718	13,288	1,546	26,066	28,496
Athlone	8,707	10,324	9,165	954	17,872	19,031
Ballina	8,082	9,827	8,937	680	17,019	17,909
Ballinasloe	8,100	7,229	6,630	558	14,730	15,329
Cahir	14,733	15,961	13,891	1,330	28,624	30,694
Cahirciveen	1,831	1,767	1,594	92	3,425	3,598
Carlow	12,458	16,508	14,392	1,512	26,850	28,966
Carndonagh	3,711	3,484	3,285	305	6,996	7,195
Carrick-on-Shannon	5,868	7,340	6,656	652	12,524	13,208
Castlerea	6,609	8,331	7,210	672	13,819	14,940
Cavan	6,814	9,164	8,323	1,024	15,137	15,978
Charleville	8,741	8,987	7,978	700	16,719	17,728
Clifden	1,709	2,808	2,487	273	4,196	4,517
Cork-Blarney	20,541	24,180	20,143	2,251	40,684	44,721
Cork-Little Island	35,544	34,415	32,498	3,121	68,042	69,959
Deansgrange	53,246	45,899	43,355	4,084	96,601	99,145
Derrybeg	2,439	3,353	3,061	196	5,500	5,792
Donegal	5,508	5,620	5,031	576	10,539	11,128
Drogheda	19,104	19,022	16,527	1,745	35,631	38,126
Dundalk	10,056	12,478	11,103	1,390	21,159	22,534
Ennis	14,829	17,875	15,820	1,744	30,649	32,704
Enniscorthy	17,237	20,918	18,144	1,818	35,381	38,155
Fonthill	42,363	55,619	45,410	5,516	87,773	97,982
Galway	27,343	32,539	29,277	3,021	56,620	59,882
Greenhills	29,292	34,753	33,942	4,094	63,234	64,045
Kells	15,596	18,388	15,762	1,847	31,358	33,984
Kilkenny	15,792	12,920	12,156	981	27,948	28,712
Killarney	10,828	9,194	8,670	571	19,498	20,022
Letterkenny	10,135	12,069	11,108	1,112	21,243	22,204
Limerick	25,562	29,641	27,409	3,239	52,971	55,203
Longford	6,083	8,608	7,586	943	13,669	14,691
Macroom	8,599	8,211	7,260	496	15,859	16,810
Monaghan	5,374	8,761	7,661	1,105	13,035	14,135
Mullingar	8,794	11,061	9,881	999	18,675	19,855
Naas	22,133	27,822	23,145	2,486	45,278	49,955
Nenagh	12,068	12,801	11,160	1,079	23,228	24,869
Northpoint 1	28,511	34,646	31,126	3,763	59,637	63,157
Northpoint 2	44,232	53,819	46,844	4,982	91,076	98,051
Portlaoise	13,523	11,581	10,365	871	23,888	25,104
Skibbereen	7,757	8,717	7,942	582	15,699	16,474
Sligo	9,208	11,059	10,099	881	19,307	20,267
Tralee	12,154	11,152	10,113	933	22,267	23,306
Tullamore	11,665	10,823	9,932	837	21,597	22,488
Waterford	19,472	20,326	17,186	1,708	36,658	39,798
Westport	10,471	11,595	10,266	796	20,737	22,066
Youghal	7,797	8,670	7,284	688	15,081	16,467
Total	692,122	773,588	687,989	71,508	1,380,111	1,465,710
Source: Road Safety Authority