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Transport Omnibus 2019

Driver and Vehicle Testing

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 3,047,912 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2019, of which less than ten percent (7.6%) were learner permit licences.
There were 186,379 driving tests conducted in 2019 with an average pass rate of 53.9%.

Compared with 2018, the number of driving tests conducted in 2019 increased by 36.7%. The number on the waiting list at the end of the year fell by three quarters (75.6%), and the average waiting time for a test decreased from 11.4 weeks to 5.5 weeks.

Almost 1.4 million (1,390,586) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2019. Half (50.0%) of those cars failed the initial test, but 97.0% passed after one or more tests.

X-axis label	Number of applications received	Driving tests conducted
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
2019	201.987	186.379

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type and licensing authority at 31/12/2019
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences
Carlow	3,477	167	4,041	33,501	41,186
Cavan	3,803	273	5,118	42,167	51,361
Clare	5,423	457	9,565	68,593	84,038
Cork	25,311	1,505	38,079	292,391	357,286
Donegal	6,891	666	11,990	87,227	106,774
Dublin	67,303	3,571	75,492	606,183	752,549
Galway	11,817	631	17,556	141,099	171,103
Kerry	6,860	384	12,581	84,063	103,888
Kildare	11,398	452	12,173	121,673	145,696
Kilkenny	4,859	360	6,872	51,967	64,058
Laois	4,220	318	4,617	41,712	50,867
Leitrim	1,525	136	2,750	19,085	23,496
Limerick	8,950	831	13,548	103,666	126,995
Longford	2,209	115	3,148	21,644	27,116
Louth	6,196	315	7,796	65,239	79,546
Mayo	6,028	449	11,191	75,743	93,411
Meath	9,810	493	11,430	108,060	129,793
Monaghan	2,447	243	4,461	36,148	43,299
Offaly	3,860	375	5,080	42,135	51,450
Roscommon	3,058	272	5,582	37,109	46,021
Sligo	2,925	334	5,387	36,872	45,518
Tipperary	8,572	734	12,828	90,032	112,166
Waterford	5,913	408	8,603	63,335	78,259
Westmeath	5,024	262	5,934	49,448	60,668
Wexford	7,840	1,015	11,549	84,604	105,008
Wicklow	7,306	512	10,247	78,295	96,360
Total	233,025	15,278	317,618	2,481,991	3,047,912
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.1 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type, gender and licensing authority at 31/12/2019
Licensing authority	Full licences			Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Carlow	20,345	17,364	37,709	1,824	1,653	3,477
Cavan	26,117	21,441	47,558	1,925	1,878	3,803
Clare	40,863	37,752	78,615	2,773	2,650	5,423
Cork	177,191	154,784	331,975	12,897	12,414	25,311
Donegal	53,953	45,930	99,883	3,567	3,324	6,891
Dublin	365,852	319,394	685,246	32,975	34,328	67,303
Galway	83,793	75,493	159,286	6,180	5,637	11,817
Kerry	52,142	44,886	97,028	3,453	3,407	6,860
Kildare	70,842	63,456	134,298	5,724	5,674	11,398
Kilkenny	31,194	28,005	59,199	2,392	2,467	4,859
Laois	25,218	21,429	46,647	2,119	2,101	4,220
Leitrim	11,919	10,052	21,971	777	748	1,525
Limerick	63,091	54,954	118,045	4,585	4,365	8,950
Longford	13,941	10,966	24,907	1,092	1,117	2,209
Louth	39,413	33,937	73,350	3,041	3,155	6,196
Mayo	46,982	40,401	87,383	3,052	2,976	6,028
Meath	63,047	56,936	119,983	4,984	4,826	9,810
Monaghan	22,686	18,166	40,852	1,339	1,108	2,447
Offaly	26,045	21,545	47,590	1,950	1,910	3,860
Roscommon	23,276	19,687	42,963	1,615	1,443	3,058
Sligo	21,825	20,768	42,593	1,551	1,374	2,925
Tipperary	55,755	47,839	103,594	4,386	4,186	8,572
Waterford	38,479	33,867	72,346	2,997	2,916	5,913
Westmeath	29,994	25,650	55,644	2,495	2,529	5,024
Wexford	50,824	46,344	97,168	4,117	3,723	7,840
Wicklow	46,546	42,508	89,054	3,634	3,672	7,306
Total	1,501,333	1,313,554	2,814,887	117,444	115,581	233,025
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.2 (XLS 13KB)

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Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2019
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	561	1,460	2,696	7,915	8,712	7,060	5,295	3,015	995	37,709
Cavan	0	1,001	2,316	3,647	9,876	10,044	8,701	6,829	3,818	1,326	47,558
Clare	0	1,561	3,629	5,564	14,272	16,893	15,189	12,015	7,249	2,243	78,615
Cork	0	5,984	14,100	22,990	65,904	74,217	63,154	47,927	28,238	9,461	331,975
Donegal	0	2,013	4,438	7,413	19,637	20,831	18,643	14,922	9,104	2,882	99,883
Dublin	0	5,153	20,097	43,867	153,692	163,934	128,133	95,321	54,847	20,202	685,246
Galway	0	2,451	6,418	11,221	33,095	36,441	29,439	22,897	13,136	4,188	159,286
Kerry	0	1,864	4,233	6,616	18,131	19,931	18,313	15,658	9,401	2,881	97,028
Kildare	0	2,075	5,514	8,866	27,856	33,799	26,178	18,162	9,452	2,396	134,298
Kilkenny	0	1,205	2,640	4,196	11,165	12,886	11,278	8,904	5,217	1,708	59,199
Laois	0	726	1,930	3,132	10,049	10,930	8,788	6,474	3,453	1,165	46,647
Leitrim	0	433	957	1,520	4,186	4,487	4,076	3,577	2,044	691	21,971
Limerick	0	2,135	5,336	8,485	23,890	25,518	21,299	17,685	10,412	3,285	118,045
Longford	0	379	1,048	1,808	5,156	5,329	4,420	3,645	2,340	782	24,907
Louth	0	958	2,808	4,954	15,122	17,398	14,398	9,956	5,935	1,821	73,350
Mayo	0	1624	3,961	6,576	17,187	16,893	15,941	14,152	8,367	2,682	87,383
Meath	0	1,772	5,118	7,955	23,917	30,507	23,626	15,792	8,793	2,503	119,983
Monaghan	0	893	2,090	3,250	8,472	8,360	7,269	6,017	3,430	1,071	40,852
Offaly	0	872	2,225	3,473	9,608	10,477	9,057	6,715	3,792	1,371	47,590
Roscommon	0	790	1,856	3,058	8,142	8,521	7,987	7,051	4,087	1,471	42,963
Sligo	0	719	1,740	2,991	8,235	8,549	7,961	6,932	4,111	1,355	42,593
Tipperary	0	1,912	4,765	7,375	19,546	21,526	19,702	15,826	9,509	3,433	103,594
Waterford	0	1,235	2,991	4,959	14,196	15,978	13,973	10,415	6,443	2,156	72,346
Westmeath	0	854	2,411	4,031	11,570	12,341	10,584	7,941	4,409	1,503	55,644
Wexford	0	1,924	4,340	6,796	18,025	20,903	18,948	14,347	8,963	2,922	97,168
Wicklow	0	1,220	3,393	5,690	16,688	20,986	17,960	12,874	7,829	2,414	89,054
Total	0	42,314	111,814	193,129	575,532	636,391	532,077	407,329	237,394	78,907	2,814,887
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.3 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age and licensing authority at 31/12/2019
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	30	812	605	520	788	410	203	76	24	9	3,477
Cavan	66	1,077	724	486	715	408	178	102	41	6	3,803
Clare	54	1,653	972	744	980	560	279	116	49	16	5,423
Cork	218	6,719	4,473	3,823	5,545	2,750	1,145	462	154	22	25,311
Donegal	116	2,215	1,449	969	1,173	580	244	97	39	9	6,891
Dublin	34	9,943	11,580	12,651	20,018	8,583	3,108	1,035	307	44	67,303
Galway	128	3,005	2,169	1,879	2,598	1,221	512	215	74	16	11,817
Kerry	74	1,999	1,249	941	1,312	688	345	177	60	15	6,860
Kildare	41	2,826	2,095	1,648	2,488	1,411	613	198	72	6	11,398
Kilkenny	70	1,313	857	726	936	507	273	113	55	9	4,859
Laois	39	1,032	801	627	915	497	178	91	34	6	4,220
Leitrim	20	461	261	193	279	147	81	61	21	1	1,525
Limerick	88	2,376	1,587	1,331	1,953	973	375	196	62	9	8,950
Longford	26	556	389	320	444	261	122	64	24	3	2,209
Louth	14	1,416	1,148	1,012	1,340	781	329	112	38	6	6,196
Mayo	97	1,971	1,145	842	1,050	531	221	112	53	6	6,028
Meath	59	2,636	1,828	1,379	1,917	1,225	492	195	70	9	9,810
Monaghan	58	771	453	301	465	233	104	49	13	0	2,447
Offaly	58	1,047	740	550	771	382	193	89	28	2	3,860
Roscommon	57	923	522	411	587	287	157	80	26	8	3,058
Sligo	31	828	549	423	567	316	120	64	26	1	2,925
Tipperary	104	2,359	1,497	1,206	1,738	926	437	206	86	13	8,572
Waterford	40	1,356	994	898	1,359	727	342	142	46	9	5,913
Westmeath	35	1,233	910	726	1,132	578	250	102	52	6	5,024
Wexford	79	1,966	1,411	1,162	1,580	879	465	207	78	13	7,840
Wicklow	23	1,716	1,316	1,116	1,619	925	372	159	52	8	7,306
Total	1,659	54,209	41,724	36,884	54,269	26,786	11,138	4,520	1,584	252	233,025
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.4 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2019
Age	Full licence			Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Under 17	0	0	0	1,521	138	1,659
17 - 20	26,125	16,189	42,314	27,788	26,421	54,209
21 - 24	61,463	50,351	111,814	19,921	21,803	41,724
25 - 29	100,502	92,627	193,129	18,577	18,307	36,884
30 - 39	293,569	281,963	575,532	27,497	26,772	54,269
40 - 49	330,872	305,519	636,391	14,034	12,752	26,786
50 - 59	283,479	248,598	532,077	5,787	5,351	11,138
60 - 69	224,948	182,381	407,329	1,826	2,694	4,520
70 - 79	133,918	103,476	237,394	428	1,156	1,584
80 and over	46,457	32,450	78,907	65	187	252
Total	1,501,333	1,313,554	2,814,887	117,444	115,581	233,025
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.5 (XLS 11KB)

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Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2014 - 2019
					Number and rate
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Number of applications received	152,078	164,204	166,149	173,054	169,237	201,987
Driving tests conducted	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316	186,379
Applicant did not attend for appointment	21,118	22,179	21,536	19,183	15,523	24,472
Number on waiting list at end of year	36,382	38,351	31,549	40,010	31,749	7,738
Average waiting time for test at end of year	9.3 wks	9.6 wks	12 wks	13.6 wks	11.4 wks	5.5 wks
Average pass rate	53.4%	54.0%	53.7%	52.9%	52.5%	53.9%
Number of testers employed at end of year	97.2	92.2	92.4	103.4	137.2	145
Source: Road Safety Authority

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Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2014 - 2019
					Number and rate
Gender	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Male	58,607	67,540	64,870	70,552	74,540	98,493
Pass	33,225	38,570	36,965	39,476	41,635	55,876
Fail	25,382	28,970	27,905	31,076	32,905	42,617
% pass	56.7	57.1	57.0	56.0	55.9	56.7
Female	48,382	54,378	49,529	55,315	61,776	87,886
Pass	23,857	27,207	24,405	27,111	29,921	44,614
Fail	24,525	27,171	25,124	28,204	31,855	43,272
% pass	49.3	50.0	49.3	49.0	48.4	50.8

Total	106,989	121,918	114,399	125,867	136,316	186,379
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.7 (XLS 10KB)

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Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2014 - 2019
					Number and rate
Age category	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
16 - 21 years
Pass	19,460	22,555	22,447	23,373	24,535	33,253
Fail	13,665	16,247	16,949	18,622	19,794	25,025
Total	33,125	38,802	39,396	41,995	44,329	58,278
% pass	58.7	58.1	57.0	55.7	55.3	57.1

22 - 25 years
Pass	11,679	13,059	11,213	12,222	13,106	17,389
Fail	8,887	9,940	8,915	10,036	11,055	14,148
Total	20,566	22,999	20,128	22,258	24,161	31,537
% pass	56.8	56.8	55.7	54.9	54.2	55.1

26 or over
Pass	25,943	30,163	27,710	30,992	33,915	49,848
Fail	27,355	29,954	27,165	30,622	33,911	46,716
Total	53,298	60,117	54,875	61,614	67,826	96,564
% pass	48.7	50.2	50.5	50.3	50.0	51.6
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.8 (XLS 10KB)

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Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2014 - 2019
					Number and rate
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
No of tests conducted	93,700	121,554	109,932	99,986	141,843	177,149
% Pass Rate	75.9	75.2	72.3	69.5	65.5	67.8
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.9 (XLS 9KB)

Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2014 - 2019
						Number of weeks
		2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
North Leinster
	Dundalk	8	9	10	15	9	5
	Finglas	8	8	10	12	8	5
	Mulhuddart	-	-	-	-	8	6
	Mullingar	9	9	11	14	9	5
	Navan	8	9	11	16	9	5
	Raheny	9	8	8	12	9	5
South Leinster
	Churchtown (opened on 20 January 2016)	-	-	10	11	14	5
	Dun Laoighaire/Deansgrange (opened 2019)	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Gorey	10	11	15	13	18	7
	Naas	8	8	13	12	8	7
	Rathgar (closed in January 2016)	8	9	-	-	-	-
	Tallaght	8	9	13	10	9	5
	Tullamore	10	10	12	14	10	6
	Wicklow	8	11	13	13	15	6
West
	Athlone	11	10	12	13	10	6
	Birr	11	11	14	19	11	5
	Castlebar	10	11	11	13	8	5
	Clifden	11	10	12	18	12	6
	Ennis	9	11	16	13	18	5
	Galway	9	8	15	12	12	5
	Loughrea	9	11	16	17	16	5
	Roscommon	9	11	13	17	13	5
	Tuam	11	11	12	11	10	6
North West
	Ballina	8	10	13	9	11	7
	Buncrana	9	11	13	19	10	6
	Carrick-on-Shannon	9	11	15	13	8	5
	Cavan	8	11	12	17	9	6
	Donegal	10	11	12	19	10	5
	Letterkenny	8	9	14	18	9	5
	Longford	9	11	14	14	11	5
	Monaghan	10	11	12	16	9	5
	Sligo	8	11	16	12	6	5
South East
	Carlow	10	11	15	16	8	9
	Clonmel	10	11	15	14	15	6
	Dungarvan	10	11	13	18	13	5
	Kilkenny	11	11	15	14	14	6
	Nenagh	11	11	17	18	13	7
	Portlaoise	11	11	13	16	9	5
	Thurles	8	11	13	20	20	5
	Tipperary	11	11	10	23	18	5
	Waterford	10	9	13	18	7	5
	Wexford	11	11	11	19	10	5
South West
	Cork	10	11	13	15	17	5
	Killarney	9	10	9	12	12	6
	Kilrush	11	10	13	10	20	10
	Limerick	8	9	13	13	13	6
	Mallow	8	11	14	13	18	5
	Newcastlewest	9	11	15	15	16	5
	Shannon	9	9	11	14	18	5
	Skibbereen	9	8	13	16	17	6
	Tralee	8	10	13	14	15	5
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.10 (XLS 14KB)

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Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2019
Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests
Abbeyfeale	8,593	7,220	6,867	489	15,460	15,813
Arklow	13,862	13,243	12,294	1,122	26,156	27,105
Athlone	9,019	9,260	8,461	764	17,480	18,279
Ballina	8,331	8,844	8,358	572	16,689	17,175
Ballinasloe	9,724	7,012	6,570	465	16,294	16,736
Cahir	14,075	14,483	13,199	983	27,274	28,558
Cahirciveen	1,701	1,498	1,402	60	3,103	3,199
Carlow	10,216	16,571	14,442	1,399	24,658	26,787
Carndonagh	3,539	3,686	3,525	290	7,064	7,225
Carrick-on-Shannon	5,735	7,252	6,773	497	12,508	12,987
Castlerea	5,607	8,956	8,026	747	13,633	14,563
Cavan	6,065	8,881	8,084	952	14,149	14,946
Charleville	8,973	7,694	7,474	538	16,447	16,667
Clifden	1,902	2,453	2,317	172	4,219	4,355
Cork-Blarney	21,064	21,751	19,498	1,739	40,562	42,815
Cork-Little Island	34,177	29,492	29,215	2,114	63,392	63,669
Deansgrange	57,306	41,959	39,408	2,969	96,714	99,265
Derrybeg	2,371	3,081	2,965	106	5,336	5,452
Donegal	5,402	5,766	5,327	423	10,729	11,168
Drogheda	19,097	19,871	17,899	1,695	36,996	38,968
Dundalk	10,750	11,235	10,455	1,027	21,205	21,985
Ennis	14,686	14,798	14,407	1,341	29,093	29,484
Enniscorthy	16,777	20,044	18,134	1,473	34,911	36,821
Fonthill	41,187	49,851	43,269	4,379	84,456	91,038
Galway	27,897	27,178	25,905	2,103	53,802	55,075
Greenhills	32,348	31,795	34,078	3,203	66,426	64,143
Kells	17,309	17,341	16,172	1,360	33,481	34,650
Kilkenny	16,328	12,339	11,988	773	28,316	28,667
Killarney	10,574	8,742	8,488	469	19,062	19,316
Letterkenny	10,288	10,748	10,599	791	20,887	21,036
Limerick	24,374	24,505	24,234	1,948	48,608	48,879
Longford	6,928	7,471	6,979	640	13,907	14,399
Macroom	8,344	8,016	7,489	413	15,833	16,360
Monaghan	5,986	7,900	7,230	771	13,216	13,886
Mullingar	10,368	9,759	9,251	635	19,619	20,127
Naas	22,498	22,487	21,102	1,716	43,600	44,985
Nenagh	10,947	11,486	10,526	856	21,473	22,433
Northpoint 1	26,696	32,423	30,064	3,075	56,760	59,119
Northpoint 2	41,114	44,807	42,564	3,765	83,678	85,921
Portlaoise	14,842	10,319	9,997	628	24,839	25,161
Skibbereen	7,172	8,798	8,416	554	15,588	15,970
Sligo	9,036	9,899	9,431	661	18,467	18,935
Tralee	11,305	10,345	9,863	722	21,168	21,650
Tullamore	11,401	9,185	8,858	544	20,259	20,586
Waterford	20,027	17,531	16,073	1,123	36,100	37,558
Westport	10,902	9,776	9,294	633	20,196	20,678
Youghal	8,143	7,849	7,096	544	15,239	15,992
Total	694,986	695,600	654,066	54,243	1,349,052	1,390,586
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2019 Table 2.11 (XLS 13KB)

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