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Transport Omnibus 2017

Driver and Vehicle Testing

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 2,866,162 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2017, of which almost a quarter of one million (246,148) were learner permit licences.

Over 125,000 (125,867) driving tests were conducted in 2017 with an average pass rate of 52.9%.

Compared with 2016, the number of driving tests conducted in 2017 increased by 10.0%. The number on the waiting list at the end of the year increased by 26.8%, and the average waiting time for a test increased to 13.6 weeks.

Almost 1.4 million (1,355,546) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2017. Over half (51.5%) failed the initial test, but 94.8% of cars passed after one or more tests.

X-axis label	Number of applications received	Driving tests conducted
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
2017	173.054	125.867

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type and licensing authority at 31/12/2017
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences
Carlow	3,671	169	3,481	31,357	38,678
Cavan	4,428	215	4,506	38,630	47,779
Clare	5,604	366	8,326	65,128	79,424
Cork	27,017	1,406	33,618	275,167	337,208
Donegal	7,305	533	10,545	81,404	99,787
Dublin	70,330	3,243	67,980	571,549	713,102
Galway	11,994	608	15,392	132,592	160,586
Kerry	7,287	362	10,901	79,085	97,635
Kildare	12,270	414	10,286	111,899	134,869
Kilkenny	5,499	347	6,082	48,867	60,795
Laois	4,595	309	3,994	38,716	47,614
Leitrim	1,595	126	2,359	17,716	21,796
Limerick	9,181	653	12,011	98,735	120,580
Longford	2,259	94	2,726	20,060	25,139
Louth	6,571	299	6,861	60,227	73,958
Mayo	6,235	422	9,634	71,013	87,304
Meath	9,905	383	9,935	99,738	119,961
Monaghan	2,905	236	3,834	33,723	40,698
Offaly	4,270	319	4,476	39,653	48,718
Roscommon	3,006	194	5,006	34,799	43,005
Sligo	2,975	276	4,781	35,041	43,073
Tipperary	9,354	570	11,559	84,413	105,896
Waterford	6,327	278	7,788	59,342	73,735
Westmeath	5,147	222	5,214	45,849	56,432
Wexford	8,588	861	10,122	78,181	97,752
Wicklow	7,830	439	8,952	73,417	90,638
Total	246,148	13,344	280,369	2,326,301	2,866,162
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.1 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type, gender and licensing authority at 31/12/2017
Licensing authority	Full licences			Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	18,785	16,222	35,007	1,816	1,855	3,671
Cavan	23,802	19,549	43,351	2,232	2,196	4,428
Clare	38,252	35,568	73,820	2,905	2,699	5,604
Cork	165,147	145,044	310,191	13,927	13,090	27,017
Donegal	49,821	42,661	92,482	3,841	3,464	7,305
Dublin	343,318	299,454	642,772	33,861	36,469	70,330
Galway	77,774	70,818	148,592	6,073	5,921	11,994
Kerry	48,520	41,828	90,348	3,707	3,580	7,287
Kildare	64,573	58,026	122,599	5,882	6,388	12,270
Kilkenny	28,935	26,361	55,296	2,835	2,664	5,499
Laois	23,108	19,911	43,019	2,267	2,328	4,595
Leitrim	10,951	9,250	20,201	807	788	1,595
Limerick	59,432	51,967	111,399	4,631	4,550	9,181
Longford	12,774	10,106	22,880	1,107	1,152	2,259
Louth	36,182	31,205	67,387	3,144	3,427	6,571
Mayo	43,526	37,543	81,069	3,132	3,103	6,235
Meath	57,614	52,442	110,056	4,890	5,015	9,905
Monaghan	21,094	16,699	37,793	1,505	1,400	2,905
Offaly	24,322	20,126	44,448	2,137	2,133	4,270
Roscommon	21,639	18,360	39,999	1,550	1,456	3,006
Sligo	20,350	19,748	40,098	1,557	1,418	2,975
Tipperary	51,715	44,827	96,542	4,849	4,505	9,354
Waterford	35,823	31,585	67,408	3,231	3,096	6,327
Westmeath	27,631	23,654	51,285	2,543	2,604	5,147
Wexford	46,391	42,773	89,164	4,361	4,227	8,588
Wicklow	43,214	39,594	82,808	3,996	3,834	7,830
Total	1,394,693	1,225,321	2,620,014	122,786	123,362	246,148
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2017
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	0	410	1,336	2,710	7,992	7,945	6,346	4,766	2,661	841	35,007
Cavan	0	747	2,031	3,550	9,493	9,143	7,754	6,106	3,370	1,157	43,351
Clare	0	1,405	3,344	5,517	14,543	16,076	13,818	10,831	6,367	1,919	73,820
Cork	0	5,197	12,741	22,800	66,407	68,519	57,181	43,657	25,396	8,293	310,191
Donegal	0	1,496	4,130	7,555	19,454	19,312	16,519	13,391	8,259	2,366	92,482
Dublin	0	4,621	18,408	43,199	152,606	149,900	118,065	88,117	50,122	17,734	642,772
Galway	0	1,937	5,808	11,352	33,580	33,750	26,362	20,538	11,735	3,530	148,592
Kerry	0	1,516	3,763	6,802	18,457	18,454	16,535	13,980	8,294	2,547	90,348
Kildare	0	1,725	4,529	8,397	27,588	30,847	23,061	16,375	8,025	2,052	122,599
Kilkenny	0	895	2,324	4,269	11,318	11,938	10,350	8,008	4,677	1,517	55,296
Laois	0	497	1,686	3,146	10,108	9,927	7,881	5,676	3,099	999	43,019
Leitrim	0	369	868	1,537	4,205	4,042	3,637	3,154	1,784	605	20,201
Limerick	0	1,974	4,849	8,380	24,467	23,637	19,623	16,281	9,319	2,869	111,399
Longford	0	309	941	1,797	5,139	4,753	3,849	3,353	2,067	672	22,880
Louth	0	767	2,334	4,902	14,883	15,921	12,672	9,036	5,329	1,543	67,387
Mayo	0	1442	3,711	6,858	16,946	15,587	14,308	12,548	7,316	2,353	81,069
Meath	0	1,520	4,374	7,566	23,925	27,961	20,667	14,234	7,681	2,128	110,056
Monaghan	0	698	1,850	3,291	8,344	7,535	6,651	5,496	3,008	920	37,793
Offaly	0	724	1,855	3,517	9,715	9,786	8,214	6,060	3,380	1,197	44,448
Roscommon	0	719	1,760	3,110	8,204	7,829	7,140	6,235	3,714	1,288	39,999
Sligo	0	651	1,683	3,031	8,294	7,862	7,378	6,338	3,679	1,182	40,098
Tipperary	0	1,475	4,231	7,295	19,901	19,941	17,669	14,372	8,634	3,024	96,542
Waterford	0	1,017	2,697	5,003	14,310	14,768	12,534	9,302	5,881	1,896	67,408
Westmeath	0	699	2,194	3,875	11,409	11,339	9,509	7,048	3,924	1,288	51,285
Wexford	0	1,585	3,767	6,572	18,046	19,260	16,661	12,766	8,032	2,475	89,164
Wicklow	0	1,039	3,114	5,514	16,816	19,395	16,229	11,739	6,960	2,002	82,808
Total	0	35,434	100,328	191,545	576,150	585,427	480,613	369,407	212,713	68,397	2,620,014
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.3 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2017
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	22	742	681	634	878	419	173	87	28	7	3,671
Cavan	55	1,229	851	607	892	437	206	100	41	10	4,428
Clare	37	1,597	1,026	790	1,107	612	256	125	45	9	5,604
Cork	163	6,718	4,901	4,282	6,279	2,926	1,124	465	140	19	27,017
Donegal	101	2,253	1,533	1,088	1,338	577	239	123	43	10	7,305
Dublin	14	9,344	12,103	13,479	22,039	8,908	3,018	1,078	316	31	70,330
Galway	113	2,789	2,330	1,989	2,814	1,200	462	218	64	15	11,994
Kerry	61	2,028	1,434	1,036	1,414	712	352	170	69	11	7,287
Kildare	21	2,586	2,292	1,969	2,977	1,578	558	212	69	8	12,270
Kilkenny	66	1,448	1,005	844	1,133	543	283	123	46	8	5,499
Laois	37	1,047	857	716	1,099	528	181	96	26	8	4,595
Leitrim	18	422	305	220	315	156	80	67	9	3	1,595
Limerick	46	2,296	1,633	1,414	2,208	942	375	198	60	9	9,181
Longford	25	509	413	352	499	273	108	57	20	3	2,259
Louth	20	1,253	1,261	1,121	1,554	838	359	119	41	5	6,571
Mayo	65	1,895	1,252	942	1,170	493	243	123	44	8	6,235
Meath	43	2,466	1,896	1,457	2,184	1,133	477	174	68	7	9,905
Monaghan	36	937	589	393	528	243	108	55	14	2	2,905
Offaly	37	1,088	842	659	911	421	193	84	32	3	4,270
Roscommon	52	806	526	451	615	311	141	75	24	5	3,006
Sligo	33	842	541	459	589	305	124	61	18	3	2,975
Tipperary	82	2,495	1,756	1,393	1,895	971	442	243	65	12	9,354
Waterford	34	1,323	1,128	1,033	1,521	759	331	136	52	10	6,327
Westmeath	32	1,154	972	844	1,199	570	225	101	47	3	5,147
Wexford	62	2,134	1,605	1,365	1,774	912	423	217	80	16	8,588
Wicklow	26	1,679	1,418	1,333	1,805	934	393	182	51	9	7,830
Total	1,301	53,080	45,150	40,870	60,737	27,701	10,874	4,689	1,512	234	246,148
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.4 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2017
Age	Full licence			Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Under 17	0	0	0	1,203	98	1,301
17 - 20	22,662	12,772	35,434	28,191	24,889	53,080
21 - 24	55,375	44,953	100,328	21,585	23,565	45,150
25 - 29	99,804	91,741	191,545	20,346	20,524	40,870
30 - 39	293,064	283,086	576,150	29,883	30,854	60,737
40 - 49	304,332	281,095	585,427	14,099	13,602	27,701
50 - 59	253,447	227,166	480,613	5,266	5,608	10,874
60 - 69	203,599	165,808	369,407	1,778	2,911	4,689
70 - 79	121,424	91,289	212,713	368	1,144	1,512
80 and over	40,986	27,411	68,397	67	167	234
Total	1,394,693	1,225,321	2,620,014	122,786	123,362	246,148
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.5 (XLS 12KB)

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Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2012 - 2017
					Number and rate
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Number of applications received	141,309	139,381	152,078	164,204	166,149	173,054
Driving tests conducted	104,302	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867
Applicant did not attend for appointment	18,632	19,621	21,118	22,179	21,536	19,183
Number on waiting list at end of year	40,879	29,252	36,382	38,351	31,549	40,010
Average waiting time for test at end of year	9.3 wks	8.3 wks	9.3 wks	9.6 wks	12 wks	13.6 wks
Average pass rate	52.5%	51.8%	53.4%	54.0%	53.7%	52.9%
Number of testers employed at end of year	104.7	103.7	97.2	92.2	92.4	103.4
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2012 - 2017
					Number and rate
Gender	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Male	56,765	56,491	58,607	67,540	64,870	70,552
Pass	31,672	30,958	33,225	38,570	36,965	39,476
Fail	25,093	25,533	25,382	28,970	27,905	31,076
% pass	55.8	54.8	56.7	57.1	57.0	56.0
Female	47,537	48,768	48,382	54,378	49,529	55,315
Pass	23,111	23,587	23,857	27,207	24,405	27,111
Fail	24,426	25,181	24,525	27,171	25,124	28,204
% pass	48.6	48.4	49.3	50.0	49.3	49.0

Total	104,302	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.7 (XLS 9KB)

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Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2012 - 2017
					Number and rate
Age category	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
16 - 21 years
Pass	19,039	19,658	19,460	22,555	22,447	23,373
Fail	13,715	14,578	13,665	16,247	16,949	18,622
Total	32,754	34,236	33,125	38,802	39,396	41,995
% pass	58.1	57.4	58.7	58.1	57.0	55.7

22 - 25 years
Pass	10,421	10,807	11,679	13,059	11,213	12,222
Fail	8,347	8,925	8,887	9,940	8,915	10,036
Total	18,768	19,732	20,566	22,999	20,128	22,258
% pass	55.5	54.8	56.8	56.8	55.7	54.9

26 or over
Pass	25,323	24,080	25,943	30,163	27,710	30,992
Fail	27,457	27,211	27,355	29,954	27,165	30,622
Total	52,780	51,291	53,298	60,117	54,875	61,614
% pass	48.0	46.9	48.7	50.2	50.5	50.3
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.8 (XLS 10KB)

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Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2012 - 2017
					Number and rate
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No of tests conducted	80,465	83,620	93,700	121,554	109,932	99,986
% Pass Rate	77.2	77.0	75.9	75.2	72.3	69.5
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.9 (XLS 9KB)

Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2013 - 2017
					Number of weeks
		2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
North Leinster
	Dundalk	7	8	9	10	15
	Finglas	7	8	8	10	12
	Mullingar	7	9	9	11	14
	Navan	7	8	9	11	16
	Raheny	7	9	8	8	12
South Leinster
	Churchtown (opened on 20 January 2016)	-	-	-	10	11
	Gorey	9	10	11	15	13
	Naas	7	8	8	13	12
	Rathgar (closed in January 2016)	7	8	9	-	-
	Tallaght	7	8	9	13	10
	Tullamore	7	10	10	12	14
	Wicklow	8	8	11	13	13
West
	Athlone	9	11	10	12	13
	Birr	9	11	11	14	19
	Castlebar	9	10	11	11	13
	Clifden	8	11	10	12	18
	Ennis	8	9	11	16	13
	Galway	8	9	8	15	12
	Loughrea	9	9	11	16	17
	Roscommon	8	9	11	13	17
	Tuam	10	11	11	12	11
North West
	Ballina	8	8	10	13	9
	Buncrana	10	9	11	13	19
	Carrick-on-Shannon	8	9	11	15	13
	Cavan	7	8	11	12	17
	Donegal	11	10	11	12	19
	Letterkenny	7	8	9	14	18
	Longford	11	9	11	14	14
	Monaghan	9	10	11	12	16
	Sligo	9	8	11	16	12
South East
	Carlow	9	10	11	15	16
	Clonmel	10	10	11	15	14
	Dungarvan	9	10	11	13	18
	Kilkenny	9	11	11	15	14
	Nenagh	11	11	11	17	18
	Portlaoise	10	11	11	13	16
	Thurles	11	8	11	13	20
	Tipperary	9	11	11	10	23
	Waterford	8	10	9	13	18
	Wexford	8	11	11	11	19
South West
	Cork	8	10	11	13	15
	Killarney	7	9	10	9	12
	Kilrush	7	11	10	13	10
	Limerick	8	8	9	13	13
	Mallow	6	8	11	14	13
	Newcastlewest	9	9	11	15	15
	Shannon	7	9	9	11	14
	Skibbereen	9	9	8	13	16
	Tralee	7	8	10	13	14
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.10 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2017
Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests
Abbeyfeale	8,292	6,729	6,050	657	14,342	15,021
Arklow	12,185	14,043	12,243	1,251	24,428	26,228
Athlone	7,629	9,535	8,440	844	16,069	17,164
Ballina	7,671	8,977	8,106	643	15,777	16,648
Ballinasloe	7,963	6,965	6,305	498	14,268	14,928
Cahir	12,926	15,073	13,133	1,168	26,059	27,999
Cahirciveen	1,665	1,549	1,378	116	3,043	3,214
Carlow	11,567	14,107	12,390	1,219	23,957	25,674
Carndonagh	3,415	3,370	3,068	320	6,483	6,785
Carrick-on-Shannon	5,948	6,609	5,925	556	11,873	12,557
Castlerea	6,298	7,679	6,735	663	13,033	13,977
Cavan	6,244	8,464	7,688	910	13,932	14,708
Charleville	8,804	7,788	7,031	585	15,835	16,592
Clifden	1,709	2,472	2,241	189	3,950	4,181
Cork-Blarney	20,977	22,273	19,425	2,060	40,402	43,250
Cork-Little Island	34,871	32,363	30,049	2,670	64,920	67,234
Deansgrange	51,470	41,632	38,386	3,506	89,856	93,102
Derrybeg	2,416	2,997	2,734	152	5,150	5,413
Donegal	4,903	5,748	5,117	508	10,020	10,651
Drogheda	17,447	17,494	15,308	1,548	32,755	34,941
Dundalk	9,715	11,217	10,099	1,194	19,814	20,932
Ennis	13,662	15,921	14,318	1,523	27,980	29,583
Enniscorthy	16,444	18,410	16,303	1,571	32,747	34,854
Fonthill	39,883	49,869	40,763	4,599	80,646	89,752
Galway	25,751	28,259	25,763	2,600	51,514	54,010
Greenhills	28,313	32,898	31,862	3,431	60,175	61,211
Kells	14,939	16,243	14,428	1,591	29,367	31,182
Kilkenny	14,581	11,171	10,603	771	25,184	25,752
Killarney	9,976	8,605	8,057	584	18,033	18,581
Letterkenny	9,546	10,899	10,224	960	19,770	20,445
Limerick	24,763	25,670	24,166	2,490	48,929	50,433
Longford	5,671	7,726	7,034	778	12,705	13,397
Macroom	8,312	7,372	6,616	456	14,928	15,684
Monaghan	4,815	8,012	7,150	1,042	11,965	12,827
Mullingar	8,322	10,433	9,383	916	17,705	18,755
Naas	20,744	23,330	20,314	1,939	41,058	44,074
Nenagh	11,064	11,323	10,127	966	21,191	22,387
Northpoint 1	28,029	32,331	28,685	3,124	56,714	60,360
Northpoint 2	41,827	47,133	43,042	4,172	84,869	88,960
Portlaoise	13,002	10,972	9,824	830	22,826	23,974
Skibbereen	7,831	7,952	7,303	532	15,134	15,783
Sligo	8,727	10,098	9,173	714	17,900	18,825
Tralee	11,177	10,164	9,387	851	20,564	21,341
Tullamore	10,116	9,670	8,929	699	19,045	19,786
Waterford	18,619	17,653	15,326	1,528	33,945	36,272
Westport	10,075	10,480	9,461	753	19,536	20,555
Youghal	7,486	8,078	6,971	596	14,457	15,564
Total	657,790	697,756	627,063	61,273	1,284,853	1,355,546
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2017 Table 2.11 (XLS 14KB)

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