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Transport Omnibus 2018

Driver and Vehicle Testing

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 2,907,192 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2018, of which less than ten percent (8.3%) were learner permit licences.

There were 136,316 driving tests conducted in 2018 with an average pass rate of 52.5%.

Compared with 2017, the number of driving tests conducted in 2018 increased by 8.3%. The number on the waiting list at the end of the year fell by one fifth (20.6%), and the average waiting time for a test decreased from 13.6 weeks to 11.4 weeks.

Over 1.3 million (1,343,794) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2018. Just over half (50.8%) failed the initial test, but 95.7% of cars passed after one or more tests.

X-axis label	Number of applications received	Driving tests conducted
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
2018	169.237	136.316

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type and licensing authority at 31/12/2018
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences
Carlow	3,603	171	3,765	31,909	39,448
Cavan	4,220	230	4,775	39,503	48,728
Clare	5,563	436	8,854	65,682	80,535
Cork	26,777	1,513	35,594	278,172	342,056
Donegal	7,126	583	11,156	82,349	101,214
Dublin	68,445	3,439	71,405	575,842	719,131
Galway	11,895	622	16,354	134,067	162,938
Kerry	7,321	407	11,541	79,874	99,143
Kildare	11,774	486	11,149	114,426	137,835
Kilkenny	5,238	392	6,397	49,394	61,421
Laois	4,301	347	4,286	39,542	48,476
Leitrim	1,579	131	2,506	18,010	22,226
Limerick	9,081	773	12,719	99,336	121,909
Longford	2,236	106	2,900	20,396	25,638
Louth	6,215	342	7,276	61,411	75,244
Mayo	6,047	418	10,293	71,749	88,507
Meath	9,801	445	10,693	102,116	123,055
Monaghan	2,626	245	4,037	34,348	41,256
Offaly	3,977	348	4,742	40,267	49,334
Roscommon	2,951	239	5,229	35,210	43,629
Sligo	2,907	340	5,022	35,333	43,602
Tipperary	9,052	676	12,115	85,580	107,423
Waterford	6,082	344	8,128	60,355	74,909
Westmeath	4,997	233	5,559	46,921	57,710
Wexford	8,481	945	10,719	79,717	99,862
Wicklow	7,769	458	9,574	74,162	91,963
Total	240,064	14,669	296,788	2,355,671	2,907,192
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.1 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type, gender and licensing authority at 31/12/2018
Licensing authority	Full licences			Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	19,296	16,549	35,845	1,832	1,771	3,603
Cavan	24,450	20,058	44,508	2,124	2,096	4,220
Clare	38,986	35,986	74,972	2,774	2,789	5,563
Cork	168,301	146,978	315,279	13,769	13,009	26,778
Donegal	50,844	43,244	94,088	3,733	3,393	7,126
Dublin	347,661	303,025	650,686	33,009	35,435	68,444
Galway	79,431	71,612	151,043	6,089	5,805	11,894
Kerry	49,420	42,402	91,822	3,736	3,585	7,321
Kildare	66,441	59,620	126,061	5,831	5,943	11,774
Kilkenny	29,508	26,675	56,183	2,653	2,585	5,238
Laois	23,824	20,351	44,175	2,085	2,216	4,301
Leitrim	11,208	9,439	20,647	796	783	1,579
Limerick	60,247	52,581	112,828	4,523	4,557	9,080
Longford	13,097	10,305	23,402	1,112	1,124	2,236
Louth	37,132	31,897	69,029	2,944	3,271	6,215
Mayo	44,395	38,065	82,460	3,010	3,037	6,047
Meath	59,456	53,798	113,254	4,845	4,957	9,802
Monaghan	21,509	17,121	38,630	1,382	1,244	2,626
Offaly	24,853	20,504	45,357	2,021	1,956	3,977
Roscommon	22,100	18,578	40,678	1,499	1,451	2,950
Sligo	20,796	19,899	40,695	1,503	1,404	2,907
Tipperary	52,903	45,468	98,371	4,655	4,397	9,052
Waterford	36,681	32,146	68,827	3,086	2,996	6,082
Westmeath	28,427	24,286	52,713	2,440	2,558	4,998
Wexford	47,791	43,590	91,381	4,330	4,151	8,481
Wicklow	44,095	40,099	84,194	3,905	3,865	7,770
Total	1,422,852	1,244,276	2,667,128	119,686	120,378	240,064
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2018
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	438	1,325	2,677	7,813	8,221	6,622	4,999	2,842	908	35,845
Cavan	0	826	2,072	3,552	9,409	9,426	8,069	6,341	3,567	1,246	44,508
Clare	0	1,342	3,378	5,431	14,158	16,209	14,247	11,343	6,768	2,096	74,972
Cork	0	4,923	12,997	22,348	64,722	70,401	59,080	45,242	26,739	8,827	315,279
Donegal	0	1,631	4,120	7,347	19,011	19,604	17,238	13,891	8,616	2,630	94,088
Dublin	0	4,387	18,480	42,135	148,817	153,496	121,419	90,796	52,331	18,825	650,686
Galway	0	1,947	5,843	11,089	32,691	34,616	27,223	21,402	12,374	3,858	151,043
Kerry	0	1,502	3,868	6,525	18,010	18,903	17,017	14,553	8,796	2,648	91,822
Kildare	0	1,789	4,899	8,342	27,223	31,607	24,235	17,023	8,722	2,221	126,061
Kilkenny	0	960	2,402	4,130	10,899	12,274	10,612	8,364	4,932	1,610	56,183
Laois	0	592	1,775	3,057	9,921	10,223	8,212	6,015	3,301	1,079	44,175
Leitrim	0	383	876	1,505	4,118	4,189	3,703	3,347	1,878	648	20,647
Limerick	0	1,892	4,918	8,201	23,681	24,328	20,065	16,817	9,874	3,052	112,828
Longford	0	324	941	1,750	5,067	4,924	4,029	3,476	2,169	722	23,402
Louth	0	767	2,493	4,753	14,699	16,325	13,327	9,378	5,603	1,684	69,029
Mayo	0	1467	3,775	6,555	16,758	15,940	14,594	13,120	7,786	2,465	82,460
Meath	0	1,565	4,592	7,575	23,612	28,781	21,726	14,850	8,220	2,333	113,254
Monaghan	0	761	1,929	3,210	8,238	7,751	6,871	5,742	3,158	970	38,630
Offaly	0	786	2,003	3,418	9,514	9,987	8,513	6,301	3,563	1,272	45,357
Roscommon	0	725	1,805	2,954	8,065	8,064	7,316	6,500	3,873	1,376	40,678
Sligo	0	658	1,680	2,966	8,177	7,968	7,574	6,539	3,874	1,259	40,695
Tipperary	0	1,509	4,356	7,197	19,315	20,525	18,251	14,972	9,021	3,225	98,371
Waterford	0	1,053	2,820	4,946	13,951	15,198	12,988	9,736	6,124	2,011	68,827
Westmeath	0	721	2,224	3,965	11,279	11,709	9,871	7,415	4,138	1,391	52,713
Wexford	0	1,659	3,959	6,474	17,685	19,679	17,426	13,399	8,410	2,690	91,381
Wicklow	0	1,030	3,120	5,460	16,249	19,907	16,718	12,159	7,403	2,148	84,194
Total	0	35,637	102,650	187,562	563,082	600,255	496,946	383,720	224,082	73,194	2,667,128
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.3 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2018
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	763	629	591	885	416	185	77	27	8	3,603
Cavan	54	1,086	852	554	868	445	216	100	36	9	4,220
Clare	50	1,593	1,038	768	1,060	598	262	126	53	15	5,563
Cork	219	6,812	4,709	4,153	6,118	2,938	1,158	500	151	20	26,778
Donegal	99	2,163	1,481	1,034	1,323	612	249	114	40	11	7,126
Dublin	28	9,055	11,489	13,019	21,336	9,005	3,061	1,092	321	38	68,444
Galway	103	2,848	2,254	1,956	2,702	1,225	497	234	58	17	11,894
Kerry	78	2,028	1,420	1,014	1,390	762	379	169	67	14	7,321
Kildare	32	2,535	2,127	1,839	2,837	1,519	597	223	61	4	11,774
Kilkenny	56	1,364	956	800	1,066	537	275	128	47	9	5,238
Laois	34	949	808	667	978	544	182	103	29	7	4,301
Leitrim	31	414	291	216	302	164	86	57	17	1	1,579
Limerick	61	2,287	1,564	1,430	2,106	1,006	356	197	65	8	9,080
Longford	24	471	405	340	507	280	124	62	21	2	2,236
Louth	28	1,241	1,208	1,045	1,418	777	337	121	34	6	6,215
Mayo	68	1,868	1,122	927	1,154	525	198	128	50	7	6,047
Meath	62	2,352	1,908	1,409	2,107	1,224	485	179	68	8	9,802
Monaghan	41	811	540	341	490	240	98	48	15	2	2,626
Offaly	42	997	751	625	836	416	192	84	32	2	3,977
Roscommon	51	814	529	413	624	263	157	68	25	6	2,950
Sligo	30	800	539	468	572	299	119	56	22	2	2,907
Tipperary	69	2,386	1,655	1,343	1,899	935	444	226	85	10	9,052
Waterford	45	1,288	1,080	949	1,431	761	330	136	55	7	6,082
Westmeath	34	1,051	981	790	1,180	566	251	88	51	6	4,998
Wexford	64	2,028	1,540	1,315	1,808	957	458	209	87	15	8,481
Wicklow	24	1,602	1,418	1,260	1,837	962	418	190	49	10	7,770
Total	1,449	51,606	43,294	39,266	58,834	27,976	11,114	4,715	1,566	244	240,064
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.4 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2018
Age	Full licence			Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Under 17	0	0	0	1,345	104	1,449
17 - 20	22,748	12,889	35,637	26,965	24,641	51,606
21 - 24	56,860	45,790	102,650	20,392	22,902	43,294
25 - 29	97,743	89,819	187,562	19,659	19,607	39,266
30 - 39	287,009	276,073	563,082	29,220	29,614	58,834
40 - 49	312,101	288,154	600,255	14,261	13,715	27,976
50 - 59	263,884	233,062	496,946	5,523	5,591	11,114
60 - 69	211,789	171,931	383,720	1,856	2,859	4,715
70 - 79	127,214	96,868	224,082	406	1,160	1,566
80 and over	43,504	29,690	73,194	59	185	244
Total	1,422,852	1,244,276	2,667,128	119,686	120,378	240,064
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.5 (XLS 11KB)

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Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2013 - 2018
					Number and rate
	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Number of applications received	139,381	152,078	164,204	166,149	173,054	169,237
Driving tests conducted	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316
Applicant did not attend for appointment	19,621	21,118	22,179	21,536	19,183	15,523
Number on waiting list at end of year	29,252	36,382	38,351	31,549	40,010	31,749
Average waiting time for test at end of year	8.3 wks	9.3 wks	9.6 wks	12 wks	13.6 wks	11.4 wks
Average pass rate	51.8%	53.4%	54.0%	53.7%	52.9%	52.5%
Number of testers employed at end of year	103.7	97.2	92.2	92.4	103.4	137.2
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2013 - 2018
					Number and rate
Gender	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Male	56,491	58,607	67,540	64,870	70,552	74,540
Pass	30,958	33,225	38,570	36,965	39,476	41,635
Fail	25,533	25,382	28,970	27,905	31,076	32,905
% pass	54.8	56.7	57.1	57.0	56.0	55.9
Female	48,768	48,382	54,378	49,529	55,315	61,776
Pass	23,587	23,857	27,207	24,405	27,111	29,921
Fail	25,181	24,525	27,171	25,124	28,204	31,855
% pass	48.4	49.3	50.0	49.3	49.0	48.4

Total	105,259	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.7 (XLS 9KB)

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Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2013 - 2018
					Number and rate
Age category	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
16 - 21 years
Pass	19,658	19,460	22,555	22,447	23,373	24,535
Fail	14,578	13,665	16,247	16,949	18,622	19,794
Total	34,236	33,125	38,802	39,396	41,995	44,329
% pass	57.4	58.7	58.1	57.0	55.7	55.3

22 - 25 years
Pass	10,807	11,679	13,059	11,213	12,222	13,106
Fail	8,925	8,887	9,940	8,915	10,036	11,055
Total	19,732	20,566	22,999	20,128	22,258	24,161
% pass	54.8	56.8	56.8	55.7	54.9	54.2

26 or over
Pass	24,080	25,943	30,163	27,710	30,992	33,915
Fail	27,211	27,355	29,954	27,165	30,622	33,911
Total	51,291	53,298	60,117	54,875	61,614	67,826
% pass	46.9	48.7	50.2	50.5	50.3	50.0
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.8 (XLS 10KB)

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Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2013 - 2018
					Number and rate
	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
No of tests conducted	83,620	93,700	121,554	109,932	99,986	141,843
% Pass Rate	77.0	75.9	75.2	72.3	69.5	65.5
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.9 (XLS 9KB)

Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2013 - 2018
						Number of weeks
		2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
North Leinster
	Dundalk	7	8	9	10	15	9
	Finglas	7	8	8	10	12	8
	Mulhuddart	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Mullingar	7	9	9	11	14	9
	Navan	7	8	9	11	16	9
	Raheny	7	9	8	8	12	9
South Leinster
	Churchtown (opened on 20 January 2016)	-	-	-	10	11	14
	Gorey	9	10	11	15	13	18
	Naas	7	8	8	13	12	8
	Rathgar (closed in January 2016)	7	8	9	-	-	-
	Tallaght	7	8	9	13	10	9
	Tullamore	7	10	10	12	14	10
	Wicklow	8	8	11	13	13	15
West
	Athlone	9	11	10	12	13	10
	Birr	9	11	11	14	19	11
	Castlebar	9	10	11	11	13	8
	Clifden	8	11	10	12	18	12
	Ennis	8	9	11	16	13	18
	Galway	8	9	8	15	12	12
	Loughrea	9	9	11	16	17	16
	Roscommon	8	9	11	13	17	13
	Tuam	10	11	11	12	11	10
North West
	Ballina	8	8	10	13	9	11
	Buncrana	10	9	11	13	19	10
	Carrick-on-Shannon	8	9	11	15	13	8
	Cavan	7	8	11	12	17	9
	Donegal	11	10	11	12	19	10
	Letterkenny	7	8	9	14	18	9
	Longford	11	9	11	14	14	11
	Monaghan	9	10	11	12	16	9
	Sligo	9	8	11	16	12	6
South East
	Carlow	9	10	11	15	16	8
	Clonmel	10	10	11	15	14	15
	Dungarvan	9	10	11	13	18	13
	Kilkenny	9	11	11	15	14	14
	Nenagh	11	11	11	17	18	13
	Portlaoise	10	11	11	13	16	9
	Thurles	11	8	11	13	20	20
	Tipperary	9	11	11	10	23	18
	Waterford	8	10	9	13	18	7
	Wexford	8	11	11	11	19	10
South West
	Cork	8	10	11	13	15	17
	Killarney	7	9	10	9	12	12
	Kilrush	7	11	10	13	10	20
	Limerick	8	8	9	13	13	13
	Mallow	6	8	11	14	13	18
	Newcastlewest	9	9	11	15	15	16
	Shannon	7	9	9	11	14	18
	Skibbereen	9	9	8	13	16	17
	Tralee	7	8	10	13	14	15
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2018 Table 2.10 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2018
Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests
Abbeyfeale	8,458	6,880	6,370	578	14,828	15,338
Arklow	13,093	13,520	11,973	1,209	25,066	26,613
Athlone	8,593	9,574	8,510	782	17,103	18,167
Ballina	8,178	8,853	8,200	589	16,378	17,031
Ballinasloe	8,383	7,405	6,690	491	15,073	15,788
Cahir	13,122	15,268	13,467	1,160	26,589	28,390
Cahirciveen	1,654	1,591	1,425	85	3,079	3,245
Carlow	11,056	14,868	12,943	1,195	23,999	25,924
Carndonagh	3,498	3,234	3,066	243	6,564	6,732
Carrick-on-Shannon	5,360	7,202	6,472	526	11,832	12,562
Castlerea	5,626	8,286	7,144	744	12,770	13,912
Cavan	6,105	8,967	7,949	971	14,054	15,072
Charleville	8,245	8,245	7,474	598	15,719	16,490
Clifden	1,773	2,449	2,275	193	4,048	4,222
Cork-Blarney	20,614	21,764	19,080	1,894	39,694	42,378
Cork-Little Island	33,256	30,686	29,576	2,318	62,832	63,942
Deansgrange	51,663	38,548	36,972	3,032	88,635	90,211
Derrybeg	2,273	2,999	2,836	137	5,109	5,272
Donegal	5,468	5,399	5,023	425	10,491	10,867
Drogheda	17,326	18,405	16,235	1,584	33,561	35,731
Dundalk	10,347	10,796	9,941	968	20,288	21,143
Ennis	14,656	15,612	14,486	1,395	29,142	30,268
Enniscorthy	17,341	18,192	16,523	1,509	33,864	35,533
Fonthill	35,881	46,365	38,238	4,027	74,119	82,246
Galway	26,520	27,015	24,966	2,283	51,486	53,535
Greenhills	30,258	32,906	33,503	3,489	63,761	63,164
Kells	15,817	16,614	14,840	1,387	30,657	32,431
Kilkenny	15,424	11,158	10,887	732	26,311	26,582
Killarney	9,799	8,535	8,173	570	17,972	18,334
Letterkenny	9,556	10,566	10,077	822	19,633	20,122
Limerick	24,443	25,045	23,964	2,316	48,407	49,488
Longford	6,587	7,449	6,853	711	13,440	14,036
Macroom	8,218	7,856	7,114	414	15,332	16,074
Monaghan	5,462	7,712	7,005	817	12,467	13,174
Mullingar	9,385	9,999	9,059	738	18,444	19,384
Naas	21,012	21,670	19,674	1,765	40,686	42,682
Nenagh	10,929	11,794	10,533	906	21,462	22,723
Northpoint 1	27,273	31,482	28,300	2,962	55,573	58,755
Northpoint 2	40,386	44,195	40,557	3,788	80,943	84,581
Portlaoise	13,402	10,383	9,645	670	23,047	23,785
Skibbereen	7,069	8,493	7,962	545	15,031	15,562
Sligo	8,981	9,793	9,086	656	18,067	18,774
Tralee	10,941	9,978	9,549	728	20,490	20,919
Tullamore	10,711	9,296	8,794	615	19,505	20,007
Waterford	19,952	17,383	15,514	1,220	35,466	37,335
Westport	9,805	9,927	9,023	734	18,828	19,732
Youghal	7,844	7,694	6,733	564	14,577	15,538
Total	661,743	682,051	624,679	56,085	1,286,422	1,343,794
Source: Road Safety Authority