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Transport Omnibus 2020

Driver and Vehicle Testing

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This publication has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this publication reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation.

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 3,089,212 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2020, of which less than ten percent (8.3%) were learner permit licences.
There were 87,580 driving tests conducted in 2020 with an average pass rate of 55.0%.
Compared with 2019, the number of driving tests conducted in 2020 decreased by 53.0%.
Over one million (1,006,983) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2020. More than four out of every ten (43.7%) of those cars failed the initial test, but 92.3% passed after one or more tests.

X-axis label	Number of applications received	Driving tests conducted
2015	164.204	121.918
2016	166.149	114.399
2017	173.054	125.867
2018	169.237	136.316
2019	201.987	186.379
2020	153.357	87.58

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type and licensing authority at 31/12/2020
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences
Carlow	3,748	111	4,390	33,415	41,664
Cavan	4,182	173	5,591	42,581	52,527
Clare	5,937	312	10,220	67,997	84,466
Cork	27,052	1,083	40,810	292,068	361,013
Donegal	7,661	430	12,929	87,081	108,101
Dublin	74,056	2,562	80,429	606,859	763,906
Galway	13,456	412	18,814	140,851	173,533
Kerry	7,280	273	13,315	83,575	104,443
Kildare	12,900	306	13,226	122,395	148,827
Kilkenny	5,220	238	7,374	51,954	64,786
Laois	4,703	184	5,051	41,702	51,640
Leitrim	1,609	112	2,993	19,154	23,868
Limerick	9,583	539	14,782	102,987	127,891
Longford	2,431	82	3,401	21,773	27,687
Louth	7,034	228	8,409	65,880	81,551
Mayo	6,398	308	11,955	75,292	93,953
Meath	11,016	328	12,441	109,140	132,925
Monaghan	2,652	160	4,825	36,159	43,796
Offaly	4,218	224	5,499	42,061	52,002
Roscommon	3,346	229	6,055	36,908	46,538
Sligo	3,203	181	5,991	36,652	46,027
Tipperary	9,180	528	13,664	89,722	113,094
Waterford	6,601	296	9,123	63,284	79,304
Westmeath	5,409	194	6,407	49,450	61,460
Wexford	8,364	650	12,523	84,802	106,339
Wicklow	7,903	367	10,981	78,620	97,871
Total	255,142	10,510	341,198	2,482,362	3,089,212
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type, gender and licensing authority at 31/12/2020
Licensing authority	Full licences			Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	20,478	17,438	37,916	1,954	1,794	3,748
Cavan	26,488	21,857	48,345	2,145	2,037	4,182
Clare	40,727	37,802	78,529	3,025	2,912	5,937
Cork	177,777	156,184	333,961	13,603	13,449	27,052
Donegal	54,077	46,363	100,440	3,884	3,777	7,661
Dublin	367,852	321,998	689,850	36,278	37,778	74,056
Galway	84,138	75,939	160,077	6,977	6,479	13,456
Kerry	52,049	45,114	97,163	3,720	3,560	7,280
Kildare	71,708	64,219	135,927	6,448	6,452	12,900
Kilkenny	31,408	28,158	59,566	2,599	2,621	5,220
Laois	25,372	21,565	46,937	2,348	2,355	4,703
Leitrim	12,047	10,212	22,259	814	795	1,609
Limerick	63,140	55,168	118,308	4,909	4,674	9,583
Longford	14,110	11,146	25,256	1,176	1,255	2,431
Louth	40,003	34,514	74,517	3,442	3,592	7,034
Mayo	46,969	40,586	87,555	3,243	3,155	6,398
Meath	64,146	57,763	121,909	5,573	5,443	11,016
Monaghan	22,622	18,522	41,144	1,434	1,218	2,652
Offaly	26,096	21,688	47,784	2,109	2,109	4,218
Roscommon	23,356	19,836	43,192	1,722	1,624	3,346
Sligo	22,021	20,803	42,824	1,668	1,535	3,203
Tipperary	55,882	48,032	103,914	4,615	4,565	9,180
Waterford	38,552	34,151	72,703	3,353	3,248	6,601
Westmeath	30,200	25,851	56,051	2,633	2,776	5,409
Wexford	51,279	46,696	97,975	4,329	4,035	8,364
Wicklow	46,985	42,983	89,968	3,941	3,962	7,903
Total	1,509,482	1,324,588	2,834,070	127,942	127,200	255,142
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2020
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	462	1,452	2,555	7,666	8,920	7,235	5,441	3,103	1,082	37,916
Cavan	0	863	2,407	3,535	9,683	10,380	9,009	7,073	3,991	1,404	48,345
Clare	0	1,258	3,621	5,448	13,713	16,948	15,464	12,140	7,495	2,442	78,529
Cork	0	5,409	14,008	22,175	64,072	75,352	64,550	48,932	29,363	10,100	333,961
Donegal	0	1,702	4,446	7,087	19,238	21,236	19,116	15,106	9,425	3,084	100,440
Dublin	0	4,457	19,099	41,712	148,918	168,302	131,055	97,957	56,832	21,518	689,850
Galway	0	2,127	6,271	10,748	31,957	37,096	30,207	23,483	13,710	4,478	160,077
Kerry	0	1,625	4,254	6,444	17,493	20,129	18,608	15,850	9,665	3,095	97,163
Kildare	0	1,867	5,387	8,770	26,830	34,566	27,200	18,669	10,062	2,576	135,927
Kilkenny	0	1,002	2,578	4,052	10,940	13,102	11,526	9,165	5,362	1,839	59,566
Laois	0	589	1,839	3,089	9,640	11,177	9,086	6,703	3,599	1,215	46,937
Leitrim	0	389	931	1,485	4,082	4,659	4,095	3,731	2,155	732	22,259
Limerick	0	1,908	5,235	8,214	23,175	25,922	21,698	17,755	10,832	3,569	118,308
Longford	0	347	1,027	1,724	5,036	5,494	4,617	3,749	2,426	836	25,256
Louth	0	862	2,790	4,813	14,805	17,677	14,974	10,437	6,139	2,020	74,517
Mayo	0	1,420	3,882	6,300	16,807	17,142	16,162	14,187	8,805	2,850	87,555
Meath	0	1,496	5,033	7,858	23,229	31,037	24,773	16,497	9,259	2,727	121,909
Monaghan	0	796	2,103	3,179	8,304	8,653	7,378	6,058	3,530	1,143	41,144
Offaly	0	754	2,179	3,364	9,321	10,662	9,182	6,960	3,935	1,427	47,784
Roscommon	0	681	1,780	2,922	7,960	8,693	8,096	7,200	4,275	1,585	43,192
Sligo	0	632	1,785	2,812	7,997	8,709	8,012	7,076	4,334	1,467	42,824
Tipperary	0	1,569	4,631	7,231	19,051	21,703	20,063	16,253	9,790	3,623	103,914
Waterford	0	1,039	2,920	4,820	13,675	16,312	14,289	10,734	6,593	2,321	72,703
Westmeath	0	705	2,360	3,954	11,268	12,520	10,879	8,165	4,589	1,611	56,051
Wexford	0	1,602	4,341	6,681	17,646	21,175	19,362	14,838	9,244	3,086	97,975
Wicklow	0	1,046	3,244	5,570	16,141	21,347	18,481	13,419	8,125	2,595	89,968
Total	0	36,607	109,603	186,542	558,647	648,913	545,117	417,578	246,638	84,425	2,834,070
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2020
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	26	896	743	553	760	446	216	74	27	7	3,748
Cavan	55	1,224	838	568	737	436	174	98	46	6	4,182
Clare	34	1,850	1,158	797	1,037	599	296	112	41	13	5,937
Cork	156	7,254	5,175	4,223	5,679	2,799	1,161	437	148	20	27,052
Donegal	80	2,551	1,663	1,142	1,212	593	266	110	36	8	7,661
Dublin	20	11,304	13,652	14,074	21,429	8,957	3,262	1,012	301	45	74,056
Galway	98	3,486	2,666	2,171	2,861	1,336	524	223	76	15	13,456
Kerry	70	2,078	1,438	1,059	1,348	690	361	168	54	14	7,280
Kildare	31	3,351	2,562	1,944	2,671	1,420	637	197	82	5	12,900
Kilkenny	61	1,515	952	777	964	532	247	117	46	9	5,220
Laois	33	1,221	999	683	941	518	193	81	28	6	4,703
Leitrim	25	509	308	200	276	145	75	52	17	2	1,609
Limerick	41	2,536	1,817	1,501	2,056	980	406	173	66	7	9,583
Longford	23	658	459	377	447	252	126	62	24	3	2,431
Louth	21	1,660	1,468	1,070	1,501	826	344	107	34	3	7,034
Mayo	62	2,065	1,351	913	1,095	514	225	120	47	6	6,398
Meath	51	2,999	2,314	1,555	2,070	1,262	521	182	55	7	11,016
Monaghan	43	886	521	345	466	227	104	46	12	2	2,652
Offaly	40	1,208	900	587	759	416	189	88	25	6	4,218
Roscommon	40	979	713	442	605	311	140	83	26	7	3,346
Sligo	38	858	679	488	601	322	125	67	23	2	3,203
Tipperary	56	2,572	1,800	1,324	1,756	928	445	207	80	12	9,180
Waterford	21	1,620	1,214	1,010	1,411	790	351	132	44	8	6,601
Westmeath	32	1,337	1,132	799	1,118	580	265	99	41	6	5,409
Wexford	64	2,217	1,633	1,221	1,617	887	439	198	75	13	8,364
Wicklow	22	1,916	1,529	1,220	1,658	962	393	152	42	9	7,903
Total	1,243	60,750	49,684	41,043	57,075	27,728	11,485	4,397	1,496	241	255,142
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2020
Age	Full licence			Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Under 17	0	0	0	1,135	108	1,243
17 - 20	22,412	14,195	36,607	30,675	30,075	60,750
21 - 24	60,606	48,997	109,603	23,421	26,263	49,684
25 - 29	97,163	89,379	186,542	20,528	20,515	41,043
30 - 39	285,590	273,057	558,647	28,970	28,105	57,075
40 - 49	336,851	312,062	648,913	14,702	13,026	27,728
50 - 59	290,252	254,865	545,117	6,179	5,306	11,485
60 - 69	229,189	188,389	417,578	1,851	2,546	4,397
70 - 79	138,172	108,466	246,638	419	1,077	1,496
80 and over	49,247	35,178	84,425	62	179	241
Total	1,509,482	1,324,588	2,834,070	127,942	127,200	255,142
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2020 Table 2.5 (XLS 10KB)

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Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2015 - 2020
					Number and rate
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Number of applications received	164,204	166,149	173,054	169,237	201,987	153,357
Driving tests conducted	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316	186,379	87,580
Applicant did not attend for appointment	22,179	21,536	19,183	15,523	24,472	8,925
Number on waiting list at end of year	38,351	31,549	40,010	31,749	7,738	53,204
Average waiting time for test at end of year¹	9.6 wks	12 wks	13.6 wks	11.4 wks	5.5 wks	..

Average pass rate	54.0%	53.7%	52.9%	52.5%	53.9%	55.0%
Number of testers employed at end of year	92.2	92.4	103.4	137.2	145	136
Source: Road Safety Authority
¹ Data for 2020 is not available

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Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2015- 2020
					Number and rate
Gender	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Male	67,540	64,870	70,552	74,540	98,493	48,887
Pass	38,570	36,965	39,476	41,635	55,876	28,061
Fail	28,970	27,905	31,076	32,905	42,617	20,826
% pass	57.1	57.0	56.0	55.9	56.7	57.4

Female	54,378	49,529	55,315	61,776	87,886	38,693
Pass	27,207	24,405	27,111	29,921	44,614	20,141
Fail	27,171	25,124	28,204	31,855	43,272	18,552
% pass	50.0	49.3	49.0	48.4	50.8	52.1

Total	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316	186,379	87,580
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2015 - 2020
					Number and rate
Age category	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
16 - 21 years
Pass	22,555	22,447	23,373	24,535	33,253	19,274
Fail	16,247	16,949	18,622	19,794	25,025	14,150
Total	38,802	39,396	41,995	44,329	58,278	33,424
% pass	58.1	57.0	55.7	55.3	57.1	57.7

22 - 25 years
Pass	13,059	11,213	12,222	13,106	17,389	8,952
Fail	9,940	8,915	10,036	11,055	14,148	7,283
Total	22,999	20,128	22,258	24,161	31,537	16,235
% pass	56.8	55.7	54.9	54.2	55.1	55.1

26 or over
Pass	30,163	27,710	30,992	33,915	49,848	19,976
Fail	29,954	27,165	30,622	33,911	46,716	17,945
Total	60,117	54,875	61,614	67,826	96,564	37,921
% pass	50.2	50.5	50.3	50.0	51.6	52.7
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2015- 2020
					Number and rate
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
No of tests conducted	121,554	109,932	99,986	141,843	177,149	111,101
% Pass Rate	75.2	72.3	69.5	65.5	67.8	76.2
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2015 - 2020
						Number of weeks
		2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020¹
North Leinster
	Dundalk	9	10	15	9	5	..
	Finglas	8	10	12	8	5	..
	Mulhuddart	-	-	-	8	6	..
	Mullingar	9	11	14	9	5	..
	Navan	9	11	16	9	5	..
	Raheny	8	8	12	9	5	..
South Leinster
	Churchtown (opened on 20 January 2016)	-	10	11	14	5	..
	Dun Laoighaire/Deansgrange (opened 2019)	-	-	-	-	6	..
	Gorey	11	15	13	18	7	..
	Naas	8	13	12	8	7	..
	Rathgar (closed in January 2016)	9	-	-	-	-	..
	Tallaght	9	13	10	9	5	..
	Tullamore	10	12	14	10	6	..
	Wicklow	11	13	13	15	6	..
West
	Athlone	10	12	13	10	6	..
	Birr	11	14	19	11	5	..
	Castlebar	11	11	13	8	5	..
	Clifden	10	12	18	12	6	..
	Ennis	11	16	13	18	5	..
	Galway	8	15	12	12	5	..
	Loughrea	11	16	17	16	5	..
	Roscommon	11	13	17	13	5	..
	Tuam	11	12	11	10	6	..
North West
	Ballina	10	13	9	11	7	..
	Buncrana	11	13	19	10	6	..
	Carrick-on-Shannon	11	15	13	8	5	..
	Cavan	11	12	17	9	6	..
	Donegal	11	12	19	10	5	..
	Letterkenny	9	14	18	9	5	..
	Longford	11	14	14	11	5	..
	Monaghan	11	12	16	9	5	..
	Sligo	11	16	12	6	5	..
South East
	Carlow	11	15	16	8	9	..
	Clonmel	11	15	14	15	6	..
	Dungarvan	11	13	18	13	5	..
	Kilkenny	11	15	14	14	6	..
	Nenagh	11	17	18	13	7	..
	Portlaoise	11	13	16	9	5	..
	Thurles	11	13	20	20	5	..
	Tipperary	11	10	23	18	5	..
	Waterford	9	13	18	7	5	..
	Wexford	11	11	19	10	5	..
South West
	Cork	11	13	15	17	5	..
	Killarney	10	9	12	12	6	..
	Kilrush	10	13	10	20	10	..
	Limerick	9	13	13	13	6	..
	Mallow	11	14	13	18	5	..
	Newcastlewest	11	15	15	16	5	..
	Shannon	9	11	14	18	5	..
	Skibbereen	8	13	16	17	6	..
	Tralee	10	13	14	15	5	..
Source: Road Safety Authority
¹ Data for 2020 is not available

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Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2020
Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests
Abbeyfeale	5,111	6,353	5,426	1,505	10,537	11,464
Arklow	6,953	12,170	8,540	2,977	15,493	19,123
Athlone	8,877	6,957	7,763	1,381	16,640	15,834
Ballina	7,370	7,201	7,304	910	14,674	14,571
Ballinasloe	7,400	4,777	5,560	712	12,960	12,177
Cahir	6,946	12,202	8,637	2,881	15,583	19,148
Cahirciveen	918	1,202	956	250	1,874	2,120
Carlow	5,796	13,994	9,863	3,508	15,659	19,790
Carndonagh	1,487	3,183	2,259	799	3,746	4,670
Carrick-on-Shannon	3,422	6,026	4,981	1,409	8,403	9,448
Castlerea	3,284	6,935	5,286	1,521	8,570	10,219
Cavan	2,746	7,078	5,651	2,387	8,397	9,824
Charleville	4,903	6,475	5,294	1,581	10,197	11,378
Clifden	1,110	2,121	1,645	399	2,755	3,231
Cork-Blarney	16,659	21,445	16,337	4,334	32,996	38,104
Cork-Little Island	25,710	21,981	23,729	3,253	49,439	47,691
Deansgrange	36,056	33,494	34,028	5,172	70,084	69,550
Derrybeg	1,837	2,853	2,223	479	4,060	4,690
Donegal	3,008	4,715	3,693	1,021	6,701	7,723
Drogheda	10,117	16,547	12,729	3,734	22,846	26,664
Dundalk	5,852	9,451	7,533	2,309	13,385	15,303
Ennis	8,825	13,908	11,027	3,465	19,852	22,733
Enniscorthy	11,859	14,807	14,770	2,420	26,629	26,666
Fonthill	25,947	35,449	30,375	6,171	56,322	61,396
Galway	17,702	20,978	19,539	3,514	37,241	38,680
Greenhills	15,216	26,667	19,470	5,116	34,686	41,883
Kells	9,282	13,789	11,682	3,465	20,964	23,071
Kilkenny	8,697	10,523	8,806	2,321	17,503	19,220
Killarney	7,845	7,019	7,760	905	15,605	14,864
Letterkenny	8,279	8,824	9,063	1,538	17,342	17,103
Limerick	18,895	22,493	21,218	4,295	40,113	41,388
Longford	3,384	5,735	5,172	1,657	8,556	9,119
Macroom	4,526	6,737	5,147	1,235	9,673	11,263
Monaghan	3,011	6,074	5,322	1,908	8,333	9,085
Mullingar	5,546	8,373	6,051	1,833	11,597	13,919
Naas	14,203	22,154	16,845	4,942	31,048	36,357
Nenagh	6,709	10,197	7,231	2,263	13,940	16,906
Northpoint 1	16,956	25,139	21,261	4,571	38,217	42,095
Northpoint 2	29,990	29,543	30,359	4,592	60,349	59,533
Portlaoise	8,956	9,277	7,261	1,719	16,217	18,233
Skibbereen	6,038	6,907	7,038	818	13,076	12,945
Sligo	4,601	7,981	6,402	1,871	11,003	12,582
Tralee	7,311	9,866	7,719	2,205	15,030	17,177
Tullamore	6,633	8,347	6,059	1,501	12,692	14,980
Waterford	13,257	13,927	13,188	2,047	26,445	27,184
Westport	5,921	8,434	6,685	1,741	12,606	14,355
Youghal	4,562	6,962	5,262	1,472	9,824	11,524
Total	439,713	567,270	490,149	112,107	929,862	1,006,983
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2020 Table 2.11 (XLS 12KB)

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