The average waiting time for a driving test in Tipperary has increased from 6 weeks to 8 months.
Driver testing was suspended in March as part of shutdown in services due to Covid-19.
They were resumed for certain categories of vehicles on 29 June, and across the board from 20 July. However, testers had only been carrying out five examinations per day up to September 14, when the figure was increased to six. Prior to lockdown examiners typically carried out eight tests each day on average.
This break in testing has now resulted in 85,000 people waiting to sit their test.
But speaking on Tipp Today, Ken Caulfield from the Caulfield School of Motoring says while there is a large backlog, he is confident it will be cleared quickly
“We’ve seen this before – the waiting list comes right down in no time.”
“I was talking to one of the regional managers and they were telling me there’s six tests a day at the moment – they’ll be pushing that up to seven. For the most part there will be two testers here.
“Things will get back to normal before we know it.”
