Ireland is now home to an unprecedented wave of learner drivers, with nearly four hundred thousand novices behind the wheel and Dublin carrying the heaviest load.
Road safety figures show lives are being lost while the testing system buckles under historic pressure.
New data from the Road Safety Authority shows 394,128 learner permit holders were on Irish roads at the end of September 2025.
That is an increase of 12,257 in just six months.
Dublin accounts for 122,544 of the total, almost one third of all learner drivers in the country.
The rise coincides with worsening road safety trends. Garda figures show that by November 20, a total of 158 people had died on Irish roads this year, nine more than on the same date in 2024.
Dublin’s learner driver profile also stands out nationally.
The largest group in the capital are aged between 30 and 39, totalling 36,674 motorists. In most other counties, the biggest cohort of learner drivers are aged between 17 and 20.
The figures show that 55 people in Dublin over the age of 80 hold learner permits, while another 459 permit holders are aged between 70 and 79.
Irish Road Haulage Association President Ger Hyland said the scale of inexperienced drivers on Irish roads “beggars belief” at a time when millions of euro are being invested to reduce delays in the driver testing system.
Hyland said the surge in learner drivers represents a direct threat to road safety.
He said the total number of learner permit holders is “a testament to the failure of the Road Safety Authority and their mismanagement of our driver testing system” and claimed the situation “is a mess and not getting any better”.
Hyland cited Garda data showing that 2,754 fixed charge notices were issued to learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied in the first three months of 2025.
That is an increase of 9.5 per cent on the same period last year.
He said that roads have become dangerous for haulage workers and accused the RSA of avoiding accountability.
Hyland urged the media to scrutinise what he described as the real story behind long delays for car, truck and bus driving tests.
He said the IRHA has no confidence in RSA data and questioned how around ten per cent of Ireland’s driving population could now be on learner permits.
He said his organisation has spent the past year seeking clarity on behalf of members and the public but has received no satisfactory answers and called on Transport Minister Sean Canney to intervene.
Hyland noted that more than thirty organisations representing road safety, cycling and pedestrian advocacy groups issued a joint statement last year expressing a lack of confidence in the RSA.
He said the haulage sector shares those concerns and wants the Minister to engage directly with transport representatives.
Nationally, the largest age group of learner drivers is also the 30 to 39 bracket, totalling 96,130 people.
A further 90,688 learners are aged between 17 and 20.
The figures also show that 410 learner drivers across the country are over the age of 80.